The Far Shores (The Central Series)

by Rawlins, Zachary

  Katya laughed and ruffled his hair, a gesture that infuriated him, though he was smart enough not to complain, and then shrugged.

  “Sure. What can your Auntie Kat do for you?”

  “I need advice. About...you know. Girl stuff.”

  Alex was totally sure that she would laugh at him.

  “Okay,” she said, abruptly changing directions and pulling him along by the sleeve of his jacket. “But, in return, you buy me dessert.”

  Katya dragged him to a small coffee house maintained for the benefit of late-night workers at the Administration building, fortunately cheap and mostly empty. Alex ordered an apple juice he didn’t want and waited while Katya inspected the depleted pastry case, before ordering a formidable piece of lemon cheesecake and latte. Only one table was occupied, so Alex brought their stuff to an empty table near the open door, where it was a bit cooler.

  Alex waited politely until Katya had a chance to begin her cheesecake.

  “Huh,” she said, her mouth full of cake. “Isn’t as good as I thought it would be. You want some?”

  “Uh, not really.”

  “Your loss,” Katya said, shoveling a second bite into her mouth.

  “But you said...oh, never mind.”

  “You wanted to ask me something?” Katya reminded him, spinning her fork idly. “Do you need me to explain how to find the clitoris?”

  He didn’t spray the apple juice everywhere, but it was a near thing. Instead, Alex settled for choking dramatically.

  “No! Nothing like that. It’s just...Katya, you know Eerie pretty well, right?”

  Katya rolled her eyes while she chewed.

  “I had a feeling that was coming. And no, not really. If anybody knew Eerie, it was Margot Feld. We sew together. Not the same as being friends.”

  “Oh,” Alex said, not bothering to mask his disappointment.

  “But,” Katya continued, poking him with her fork, “I do happen to know the answer to your question.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. Eerie’s a little frustrated with you, I think. Maybe feeling kind of down lately.”

  “Oh.”

  “You are a master of the art of conversation, Alex. No wonder the girls all go starry-eyed for you.”

  “Sorry. How...how do you know?”

  “Special girl powers,” Katya said, blowing on her latte. “Also, I noticed that she is volunteering to spend all her free time working at Processing, when she isn’t locked in her room. And she ditched you last week when we came back from the Far Shores. Plus, she’s on an all-candy diet again.”

  Alex nodded slowly. Eerie abandoning actual food was a bad sign, but without Margot to chide her, it wasn’t unexpected.

  “Do you know why?”

  “You are kidding, right?” Katya pushed away the remains of the decimated cheesecake. “Remember when you went on vacation with that other girl? The one you did you-know-what with, right before Eerie’s only friend was killed? ’Cause I think it might be something to do with that.”

  Alex’s cheeks burned, and he stared into the mouth of his container of juice.

  “Of course. I mean...of course. But, you know, I did finally ask her out...”

  Katya’s jaw dropped.

  “You did? Not bad! I was afraid you would back out at the last minute.”

  “I didn’t. Thanks to you, mostly.”

  Katya laughed.

  “Assassin and relationship councilor, that’s me. I should start an advice column.”

  “Sometimes I wonder if I should just tell her everything. I mean, maybe that’s what’s bothering her.”

  “Tell her about what?”

  “You know. Emily, and break, and...stuff. You know.”

  “I don’t see why it makes a difference,” Katya said, after careful thought. “I bet she’s already figured that out for herself. Even if she does have the wrong idea about what happened, what does it matter? Emily was an empath, after all. Maybe she used her protocol to influence you into debauchery. Who cares? All you have to do is not be a whore in the future and you should be fine.”

  Alex wavered.

  “I don’t know. I keep thinking that maybe I should come clean on all of this.”

  Katya groaned.

  “Exactly the pick-me-up every girl dreams of when she is down. Don’t get me wrong, Alex,” Katya said firmly. “I think you should be honest in the future. But no girl wants to hear that sort of thing when she is already feeling insecure and unhappy. Pro-boyfriend-tip.”

  “Ah. Right.”

  Alex continued to stare at his juice, unable to even formulate questions. Katya sighed, then rested her forehead briefly on the table.

  “Okay,” Katya said, sitting up and sipping her latte. “I am going to do you a big favor, Alex. Gonna give you a valuable female perspective on the issue. You know what a girl generally likes in a relationship?”

  “Um,” Alex hedged, wiping sweaty palms on the thighs of his jeans. “Uh, I don’t know. Flowers?”

  “Dates, Alex,” Katya said, clearly exasperated. “Generally, part of dating involves actually going on a date occasionally. You get me?”

  Alex nodded enthusiastically.

  “You think I should take Eerie on a date.”

  Katya applauded.

  “Exactly.”

  Alex’s smile lasted only as long as it took him to realize that he had a few more questions.

  “Um, then, what kind of thing...”

  “I don’t know what that girl sees in you. What kind of thing do you do on a date? Something like what we are doing right now, you moron.”

  Alex absentmindedly started peeling the label from his mostly full juice.

  “I should take Eerie to get coffee, then? Here?”

  Katya finished her latte, and then wiped the foam from the tip of her nose.

  “You are just fucking with me, right?”

  Alex tried his best, but the smile came naturally.

  “Yeah. A little. I’m not quite that dense, but I really don’t have any idea where to take her. Can I even leave Central?”

  “Of course,” Katya said, clearly surprised. “You aren’t a prisoner. You can leave the Academy whenever you want, provided that you inform Administration and can arrange for your own transport.”

  “Ah.”

  Katya grinned while she stole his apple juice from him.

  “Your own transport. You catch that part?”

  “Aha.”

  “Which you don’t have.”

  “Yeah. Do you think I could take her somewhere in Central?”

  Katya rolled her eyes.

  “Yeah. Lots of romantic places to take a girl. Particularly since Eerie lived here since she was a kid.”

  “You may have a point,” Alex allowed. “But, where...”

  “Alex, what does she like to do?”

  “Huh?”

  “Eerie. The girl in question. What does she like to do?”

  Alex’s brow immediately broke out in a sweat, as if he had just been handed a pop quiz.

  “Um...sewing! She likes to sew!”

  “Actually, she generally knits, but I guess that is sort of close,” Katya allowed, swirling the apple juice in the plastic bottle. “Are you gonna take her sewing?”

  “Well, no.”

  “Yeah, I figured. Try again.”

  Alex racked his brain, feeling more than a little guilty at his own ignorance. He wondered if he had ever asked Eerie what she liked to do, or even wondered before Katya started her interrogation. Alex started to suspect that he wasn’t a very good boyfriend. Assuming that’s what he was.

  “Dancing? We went to that rave thing...”

  Katya reached across the table to poke him in the forehead.

  “Do you wanna dance? Because you cannot ask her to go dancing and then refuse to dance.”

  Alex grimaced at the thought, and the indent Katya’s fingernail left behind.

  “Not a good idea.”

  “I
agree. Try again.”

  Katya was cruel. She let the silence drag out until Alex was a sweating, mumbling mess.

  “How about I give you a hint?”

  “Please.”

  “Eerie swims every morning. Quite a bit, I think. That’s probably why she can get away with eating whatever she wants,” Katya said enviously, “and keep that figure.”

  Alex wasn’t entirely sure whether Katya envied Eerie’s weight, or her dietary freedom.

  “I can’t imagine why that would bother you,” Alex complained, pointing at the crumb-covered plate between them. “I mean, all you eat is fattening crap, and you look alright. So, why would you...uh...”

  Katya’s eyes blazed momentarily, and Alex braced himself for a slap that never arrived. She cocked her head to the side and studied him as if he were a painting that she didn’t understand, and hadn’t quite made up her mind as to whether or not she liked.

  “We are going to pretend that you didn’t say that,” Katya said firmly, and Alex saw no reason to argue. “Back to the subject at hand. You can swim. I know. I’ve seen it firsthand.”

  “Take her swimming, then?” Alex scratched his head. “Like, at the pool, or something?”

  “You are the least romantic boy,” Katya said flatly. “I just meant you wouldn’t drown.”

  “Hey!” Alex objected, sitting bolt upright. “Emily always used to say...”

  “I know. I overheard it. And you can’t take Eerie swimming in the pool, because it’s the lap pool she swims in every day. No, I got something much better in mind,” Katya said, with a lascivious grin that reminded him of Renton. “You see, I happen to know a little secret about the Academy. One involving a secret and totally romantic hot spring.”

  “Really?”

  “Yup.”

  “How do you know about...”

  Katya held up one hand, and Alex trailed off.

  “I’m not telling. And Ana will figure out the details. Trust me.”

  “More help from the Black Sun? I don’t know. I don’t really want to fall into Anastasia’s debt. No offense...”

  “None taken,” Katya said curtly, tossing the apple juice container in the direction of the trash and standing up. “That’s my idea, anyway. You can come up with your own, if you don’t like it.”

  “No, wait,” Alex said apologetically, hurrying after her as she walked out of the coffee house. “You’re totally right. I’m sorry. I don’t have any good ideas of my own.”

  Katya slapped him heartily on the back and laughed.

  “Don’t look so down,” she admonished him. “Emily Muir isn’t the only one who looks alright in a bathing suit, you know?”

  Seven.

  “We haven’t had a chance to talk for a while, now,” Rebecca said, flicking ash from her cigarette out the open window. “How’s life at the Far Shores treating you?”

  “Um, good. I guess. Sort of.”

  “Well, that’s a ringing endorsement.”

  Alex sighed and glanced over at Rebecca. He lay on the relatively new leather couch that had replaced the one he destroyed during his activation.

  “I don’t know. What do you want me to say? I’d just gotten used to being at the Academy, and now I have to spend half the week at some weird compound, training with the Auditors and missing the goddamn dorms.”

  “Well, you could say exactly that,” Rebecca said evenly. “For example.”

  “Don’t give me shit, Rebecca,” Alex grumbled. “I’m not in the mood.”

  “Oh? And why not?”

  “No reason, okay? Don’t psychoanalyze me, either.”

  “I don’t do that, Alex. Actually, I don’t think anyone does that anymore. Freud’s been pretty much discredited. These days it’s all Prozac and cognitive behavioral therapy.”

  “Because they are lucky enough not to have an empath on their case all the time.”

  “Not fair. I promised not to do that to you, and I’ve kept my promise. You wouldn’t be such a miserable little shit if I were empathically manipulating you. I’d at least do something about your sparkling personality and sunny outlook on life.”

  Alex held his hands up in surrender.

  “You win. Can we start over?”

  “Sure,” Rebecca responded cheerfully. “How’re things?”

  “Okay, I guess. I don’t like the Far Shores that much. It’s big and empty and creepy, and it all feels like it was furnished by IKEA. I mean, maybe it’ll get better next week, when we start having classes and stuff, but right now it’s really boring. And I miss my friends.”

  “I hear you. And you’re right about where they got the furniture, by the way. But look on the bright side – you actually have friends to miss. That’s a big step forward, in my opinion. Speaking of, how’re things with Eerie?”

  “Good,” Alex responded guardedly, licking his dry lips. “We’re going swimming later.”

  “Cute. I’m glad she didn’t ditch you again, like last week.”

  “Yeah, well, I think she was just trying to make a point. Did she talk to you about that?”

  “Even if she did, I wouldn’t share with you, kiddo. These sessions are confidential, you know. Doesn’t matter who asks – Alice, Gaul, whoever. Anything you tell me stays with me.”

  “Really?” Alex glanced over at Rebecca’s face, as if to double-check. “That surprises me.”

  “Why?”

  “I just figured, you know, that I had a file somewhere...”

  “You do. I’ve seen it. But none of what we talked about made it in there. Don’t get me wrong – I do an eval of you every few months, and I’m part of the panel that determines your suitability for field operations. What we discuss here does inform my professional opinion of you. But not a word of what we discuss leaves the room.”

  Alex stretched out on the couch as if he intended to take a nap, then rolled on his side to face her.

  “Huh. That makes me feel a little better.”

  “Good. So, you were talking about Eerie?”

  “I don’t think I was, actually, but I will. We are, you know – I, um,” Alex said, blushing and boasting at the same time, “asked her out. So we are, well, going out, I guess.”

  Rebecca smiled wryly while she pitched the stub of her cigarette out the window.

  “Good for you. Glad you finally worked up the courage.”

  “Me too,” Alex agreed, nodding. “I’m not sure why I waited so long, honestly. If Katya hadn’t gotten on my case, and Eerie hadn’t spent last weekend with her coworkers from Processing, I might not have.”

  “I’d imagine you were keeping your options open,” Rebecca pointed out, standing up from the windowsill and moving over to the couch, knocking his shoes off one end so she could sit. “Jealousy is a powerful motivator, though, as I’m sure Eerie is perfectly aware.”

  “Maybe,” Alex said, frowning. “Katya said the same thing. But I’m still not sure that Eerie would do something like that. I kinda think she really was just busy. It’s not like her, you know? She’s too nice for that shit.”

  Rebecca wanted to laugh, but she didn’t. The blindness of young love, she thought. It was so cute that it made her a little sick to her stomach. Of course, that could have just been jealousy on her part. Contrary to popular opinion, an empath’s own emotions were as much a mystery as they were for anyone.

  “If you say so. Out of curiosity, though, that’s the second time you mentioned Katya Zharova. Miss Gallow seems to think the two of you have gotten rather close – or is that just because you were partnered for Audits training?”

  Alex frowned and worried his lower lip between his thumb and forefinger, considering.

  “No. That isn’t all of it. I didn’t trust her at all at first, you know? Anastasia assigned her to look after me, and I figured it was all some cartel fuckery. Anyway, after all that shit with Emily, I was kinda suspicious of any girl around here that paid attention to me.”

  Rebecca let the underlying misogyny slid
e. It wasn’t as if Alex was wrong – the cartels used whatever tool they thought would be most effective in their ongoing war for the hearts and minds of the students of the Academy, and sex and personal relationships were always near the top of the list, along with power and money. Probably higher on the list, when it came to adolescent boys. As a matter of fact, Rebecca suspected that Alex probably hadn’t seen the last of that particular gambit – Anastasia hadn’t made an open play for Alex’s loyalty yet, something that worried Rebecca. There was no guarantee that a cartel wouldn’t attempt to turn an eligible daughter or orphan into a recruiting opportunity, particularly as Emily Muir had been very nearly successful, by all accounts. His fragile involvement with a Changeling would probably make that tactic even more appealing – no one in their right mind gave that relationship a chance at long-term success. One of the inherent difficulties with interspecies romance.

  “But Katya isn’t like that. She’s pretty honest, and she’s never tried to sucker me into anything. And she’s really smart about some stuff – I think I’ve learned more about using my protocol from her than I have from my teachers.”

  That was worrisome as well. Rebecca would have to review Zharova’s file, but off the top of her head, she couldn’t think of a reason why Katya would have any particular expertise with Black Protocols, or an affinity for teaching Alex to use his. Did she have some kind of special knowledge of Alex’s protocol in particular? Was that the reason that Anastasia Martynova had paired the two of them in the first place? Or did she somehow predict their surprising personal affinity? Too many questions and unknown parameters to make a judgment. Rebecca despised issues that revolved around Anastasia Martynova.

  “I don’t think I could make it in the Program without her. And I know for sure I’d go nuts at the Far Shores if I didn’t have her to hang out with. I mean, Haley and Min-jun are alright, don’t get me wrong, but...”

  “I understand,” Rebecca cut in smoothly, saving him from trying to explain the vagaries of friendship without feeling like an asshole. “And I’m glad you have someone to help you through the Program. It’s not something anyone should face alone. As a matter of fact, that’s why Auditors tend to work in pairs. It’s easier to carry that sort of burden with a partner, outside of the practical advantages. I’m a little surprised that you feel so close to someone who was raised as a member of the Black Sun, and trained as an assassin, though. I would have thought that the two of you wouldn’t have much in common.”