Olympian (Wine of the Gods Book 25)

by Pam Uphoff

  He hesitated . . . she could nearly see him deciding to trust them.

  "No. My mother was pretty old when she married my father, and the last child of her own mother Elif. Emre was her father."

  Paer blinked. "Umm. You know those history myths? One of them is that all the Prophets were male."

  Snort. "Ashley, Fatma, Grace, Kristian, Merve, Chloe, and Elif were women. Chloe died at the Arrival. The others mostly married out to gain political power, and thought they were barren, until they were widowed and later married a prophet. They had fifty or so children . . . several were still alive when I, we, turtled." He shrugged, turned back to his comp. Hunched a shoulder and muttered. "Fatma was pregnant at the Arrival, her son was Alexander the Traitor."

  Paer blinked. "Ooo! So he was pure Prophet! That never got into the History books! And he is rumored to be one of my very very distant ancestors!"

  Snort. "Mythology. I may flunk yet." He turned a cold shoulder her direction and concentrated on his comp.

  Paer sighed. Cast a last look at the wall screen, showing the last rescues from the carnage. Long rows of bodies in bags. I'll bet Endi was involved in that disaster. And . . . maybe what I'm going to get out of life will stop that from happening to us. Stop us from doing something to deserve it.

  Paer contemplated the long path to political power. I only saw the last two steps of Dad's climb to power. But I've heard him talk about his start as a volunteer for the new Modernist Party, that first town council election. Then District, Regional, then the Empire Council. And the big step, the one he didn't expect to win.

  I really don't want to do that. She glanced at the vid. I'll think about it.

  After I win the Olympics. She nodded decisively and dug into the next chapter.

  Chapter Nine

  23 Rajab 1398

  Florence, One World

  Then off to Florence for the second qualifier.

  A long winding trip, going around the Alps, not over.

  And like Paris, it was not the same Florence of the history books, but the post War of Unification city built near the ruins of a city destroyed more than a century before the Arrival in a nuclear war.

  And the usual ambush interviews.

  "Paer! Do you think you going to make the Olympic Team?"

  "I'm working on it!" Big smile. No doubt it'll be a quick filler somewhere. Celebrities or Sports. Possibly even the front page if they have an awkward hole to fill. Arg! I really don't have any wish to go from horse shows to politics, but I would have a leg up.

  College first . . . Can I major in horses? Umm, veterinary school? I need to add working with Snip on the minor healing magic Endi taught him.

  I wish Endi was still here.

  She was so distracted she barely noticed her group winding through the busy venue. Splitting around a horse, sidestepping a pair of men also detouring around the horse, as it took exception to something, backing and swinging around.

  And the men reaching for her . . .

  She shot forward, out of the reach of one, but the other caught her left arm and swung her around. Handy, that. Her kick caught him under the belt and folded him over. Right fist hammering to the back of his head. Her stun spell hit the second man and his leap toward her changed into a limp flop. An elbow strike behind at barely seen movement hit a solid chunk of muscle. She twisted her left arm out of the first man's loosening grip and brought it down, around, and up, heel of hand to chin. He staggered back, collapsed. Xiat with stunner in hand, behind him.

  A thump behind her, and the first man was finally all the way down. The buzz of stunners belatedly penetrated her concentration on the immediate and she spun to see that the ground was littered with bodies. Muffy and some of the plainclothes guards, stunners in hand, coming up from that side. The Black Horse guards had bigger and nastier guns.

  The rider of the horse slid limply off and Paer automatically grabbed the reins.

  "Whoa." Firm voice, leaning in aggressively toward the animal. The horse stopped, wuffing uncertainly, but convinced of her control of him.

  Paer looked around. "What could they possibly have expected to accomplish?"

  Xiat nodded at a door in the wall. "Wsca, follow me. The rest of you stay with Paer."

  The door led to an unloading ramp. Paer couldn't see further, but she could hear the shriek of tires as a car departed in a hurry.

  Xiat was right back, cussing. "No ID on the vehicle." She looked around. "We started stunning people rather indiscriminately. Who do we seriously need to detain?"

  Paer looked around. "Those two tried to grab me. That one was either in the way or deliberately blocking me. And the rider."

  "Yes. The blocked by horse was much too convenient to be an accident." Muffy nodded to all the plainclothes types who'd closed in as the bystanders retreated. "Take them all to the hospital, and as they wake up, have a priest Truth them, and release the uninvolved, as soon as they give statements."

  "And find out who owns this horse." Paer rubbed horse's nose. "He could have been borrowed, stolen, but would they count on having a suitable horse handy? He may have been brought here by them. "

  Half the guards gawped a bit at her.

  Xiat snickered. "Hey, you're not a guard . . . yet."

  She pointed out four guards. "Muffy, take these four and stick to Paer and get her to where she needs to be. Wsca, Uhgy, you didn't shoot anyone—thank you, by-the-way—so you go too. And as soon as you can, write out statements."

  Paer handed the reins off to another of the plain clothes types and allowed herself to be herded off.

  "Oh, and Paer?" Xiat called over the intervening heads. "Damn good job on the goons. You had the three main muscle men down all by yourself."

  Paer found herself grinning, as she was hustled off. I didn't even think about it! I could easily have gotten away from them on my own . . . I think. It kind of depends on how many of the people the guards stunned were actually in on it. Whatever it was. Kidnapping? They didn't seem to want to kill me, showed no weapons. She shut down the analysis as she turned into the aisle for Madam Chin's stabling. And got emoted over. Even Madam Chin hugged her. Baen was crying and Goem was wide-eyed and shocked.

  "It was so fast. I didn't even realize what was happening until it was over.

  Snip was looking grim. "No warm up ride today." And firm. Because Private Isna was not just a groom.

  Paer scowled. "Well, let's start with a massage and see what Xiat says when she gets back."

  Assuming she could get back through the cordon of the local police, trying to look important instead of upset. Nice guys really. Paer talked to them and thanked them and said she hoped she wasn't keeping them from home or other duties. Oh One. I have absorbed too much political savvy. Way too much.

  Xiat showed up. Thumped her shoulder. "Local gambling syndicate, they wanted to grab you, then drop you and run away. They figured you'd be upset enough to not do well. Seems a stupid risk just to tilt the odds a bit."

  The local police investigator following her shrugged. "Criminals mostly are stupid. It's not like in the movies. Maybe we can trim them back a bit, this time, although we've only got some lowlife gangers, not anyone important."

  "What about the horse?" Paer blushed at the indulgent look she got from the man.

  "Here for the lower level classes. Ridden by the groom, who had gang connections. Former groom. He's now unemployed."

  So, however late, she did take a tour of the grounds, under heavy escort. It had been a couple of years since she'd shown here, but not much had changed. Then she took Crystal out for a very brief loosening up ride, ignoring the tense guards. Focus.

  In the morning, Madam Chin established her usual routine, and Paer ignored how many people she recognized among the casual watchers. Crystal was full of energy and needed a good long workout. And right now, that was what was important.

  First I must focus on making the team. Two shows. Then I will shift focus to winning the Olympics. Then . . . eve
rything else. But today and tomorrow, it's all about this show.

  A newsie with a mike on a long pole, and an assistant with a vid recorder. "If you tie for the team slot, will your popularity carry you over Isgu and Efro?"

  "One no! This is not a popularity contest. This is all about winning. Period. If we are tied, they'll take into consideration things like the experience of both horses and riders, the things each pair is good and bad at, what sorts of course Master Adva might design for the Olympics and so forth to help them choose among us. Even then, of the eight riders, only six will go to Delhi, but the day of the class, only four will actually jump. And they will pick the ones they think have the best chance of winning." Paer glanced over her shoulder. "Gotta go study the ground."

  "Paer, Paer!" Yet another Newsie. "Paer, is the attack yesterday going to put you off your game?"

  "What? Them? That was just some local troublemakers. No, I'm saving my worries for the Grand Prix. The competition is tough, both from my rivals for a spot on the team, and all the new riders from out of the Central Region." Paer grinned for the vid cam. "But that does give me a chance to scope out some of the other Olympic teams. Now if you'll excuse me, today is going to be really busy."

  And it was. Mostly watching the lower level classes. How the horses handled the footing, if any of the banner ads seemed to disturb multiple horses and so forth. Eye the jumps they used, whether the planner like big galloping courses or tight turns, because it would all be worse in the Grand Prix.

  Everyone else was watching as well, and Paer met several, and was invited back to see the horses from Homestead. Two of them had the stripes across their shoulders and quarters of the native domestic horses.

  "Are those halfbreds? Their confirmation looks more . . . " She balked over how to diplomatically put it . . .

  "Like a jumper?" One of the men grinned. Reddish, a Halfer perhaps.

  "Yes. Thank you. The differences in the various worlds' horses fascinates me." Paer caught a loud clearing-of-throat from Madam Chin. Rolled her eyes, as the Homesteaders all grinned. "Good luck tomorrow."

  Weird dreams, but . . . she shielded, or hit, stabbed, or shot any number of ugly monsters, ugly men in dirty clothes in a forest, those casually dressed men yesterday, and the worst, the faceless men in white servants uniforms. She lay in bed, thinking about it. Does this mean my subconscious thinks I can defend myself? Or is it just random memory fragments that my conscious brain tries to weave together into some sort of coherence? Who knows? Maybe it's telling me to carry a knife. Although the sword was cool, in the dream. She snuggled down under the crisp clean hotel sheets and slept again. Dreamlessly.

  The course was hideously complex, with sharp turns alternating with long gallops. Paer heaved a deep breath as she pulled Crystal up after a clean round.

  Kept walking. Four riders clean. Her two rivals and one of the Homesteaders. She drew the second spot in the jump off. Beat Isgu's time. The Homesteader had a clean round, but slower than Paer's time by a faction of a second. Efro rode out on his leggy bay mare and scorched around the course.

  Paer swallowed. Looked at the time. Damn. But if her smile was a bit wry, she did lean and touch hands. "Congratulations."

  That boosted Efro a hair ahead of Paer, and the fourth place finish dropped Isgu a hair behind her. He steamed and did not congratulate any of them, hissed something about his cinch slipping and glared at them.

  The Homesteader nodded sharply, then grinned. "I must learn to let Tiger run like . . ." Paer blinked at the clicks and tsks. "and keep just enough control to collect up enough to jump the next jump before we've crashed it."

  He flashed another grin. "And no, I'm not going to translate that."

  Chapter Ten

  10 Jusef 1398

  Berlin, One World

  Focus. Determination. Speed.

  Paer had a vague impression of hecklers, didn't let it break her focus. Only the show ring matters, the ring is everything.

  Ignored the fuss around her. The new cinch and stirrup leathers "just in case." The guard sitting in Crystal's stall. All the guards around her.

  She didn't even let the competition matter. This was her and Crystal versus the course.

  Until she'd won. Then she let the realization seep in that she'd not only beaten her rivals, and foreign competitors, she'd beaten two members of the current Paris Division Team. Team Captain Ezli was ruefully amused at his second place finish and the three contenders were swept up for a group dinner. Isgu and Efro glared daggers at each other, and as often as not, in her direction.

  Paer ignored them. Horse talk with her sports heroes. Heaven.

  ***

  "So I'm back in first place, but only by a hair. Not decisively."

  Rael grinned. So nice to see her so happy.

  "So they are going to review everything. But I think I've made it. They'll call. Day after tomorrow."

  "It's going to happen fast now, won't it?" Rael tapped at her comp. "The show jumping is the first equestrian event. Two and a half months from now."

  "Yeah. I'm ready to pack up for Linz. We'll go Tuesday. It's going to be weird, working with a different coach. Then one show before we leave for Delhi on the twentieth of Nicholas, and the Grand Prix Jumping Event—One! Over a hundred horses. They do the first 2 rounds over four days. It's actually before the official opening ceremony, so they can have the top eight teams in round three the day after the big whizz bang ceremony. That's for the team medal. They use the individual points from rounds one and two to choose the top thirty riders for the individual championship two days after that."

  "So you could win two medals?"

  Paer finally plopped down and flicked on her comp. "Yep. And I don't even remember what I was studying."

  "Latin and Geography."

  "Ugg. After the Olympics I should take Biology II. Just in case I decide to major in zoology." Paer clicked

  "Yeah, most colleges don't have degrees in Equinology."

  Snicker. "And . . . where's Ra'd? I refuse to believe he can get away with playing hookie, now."

  "Isakson broke his arm this morning. I'm really glad that man's careful when he fights me." Rael grinned. "That fierce little shit didn't stop, of course. The surprising thing is that Isakson didn't either. And then he looked at all of us and said we were almost good enough for some real sparring."

  "Oh . . . my."

  "And he's impressed with your Speed. Hell, all the guards are. You should hear them bragging about what you did to those goons in Florence."

  Paer shrugged. "Fast reflexes."

  Rael shook her head. "Speed. The above normal Speed of Oners. You're up to about level three, at just sixteen years old. Xiat said you fired up instinctively, without needing to think about it."

  "Wow. I . . . hmm." She blinked a couple of times. "I mean . . . I know my genetics, so I knew I would have Speed if I trained for it . . . I didn't realize you were training me."

  "That seems to be the best way to do it. But some people just don't pick it up that way. I . . . I'm not sure how I did it. I took a lot of dance classes when I was a teenager, and karate . . . but really, the dance classes seemed like where I developed the Speed." She cast her mind back, but she mostly remembered people. Shrug. "But even so, most people are just level one or two. You'll be getting better all the time. So why don't you hit the geography work and see how much you can knock out, today and tomorrow."

  Paer sighed. "I have to do a project. Research something. They want a written report, with data displayed on maps, tables, charts, and graphs."

  "Well, how about the geographic distribution of horses, and their principal uses in each area." Rael frowned. "I don't recall a whole lot of horses in Montevideo, but I wasn't horse-mad like some people I know."

  Paer buried her head in her computer. She emerged long enough to give Rael Montevideo District's equine population, most common breeds, and what they were used for. Then dove back into the comp. Barely noticed when Ra'd walked in,
discarded his sling and got to work himself.

  And even with her comm sitting right next to her, and checking the clock every other minute, she finished it and sent it off before the call came.

  Pale as a ghost, eyes glowing. "I'm in!"

  Chapter Eleven

  14 Yusef 1398

  Linz, Paris Division, One World

  Fast security checks on everyone. Without bothering anyone.

  Rael eyed the final quick checks on the grooms and decided it would be a good idea to have someone out on the grounds at all hours. A close in detail. Discreet and as unobtrusive as possible.

  The grounds were nice. A hundred acres of pasture, parkland, arenas, two small barns, and housing for a couple dozen people. Half the housing was mobile, and the guards had added to that.

  It was insane. There really wasn't any reason for the Paris Division's Olympic equestrian team facilities to be so bloody far away from Paris. There were eight people on the team. Six would go to Delhi. Four would actually compete.

  The redundancy might be wise—and necessary, given the tendency of horses to injure themselves—but it easily doubled the people and horses on the grounds.

  Rael was busy enough to only get a glimpse of Paer's interactions with the Team coaches. Bet Madam Chin's having Control Freak fits, just now. But Xiat was in charge of the whole detail, and admitted to her that Rael was along because she was both deadly and as close to a pal as Paer had among the guards.

  "Pal. Oh dear. And Urfa thinks I'm her social secretary."

  Paer staggered in through the open door and collapsed in a chair. Closed her eyes. "Why did I ever think Madam Chin was tough, and why do I need a social secretary?"

  "Because all your fans are sending you letters and presents. Most of the presents are back in Paris being tested for poisons and spells. I'll get you a list of everyone who's sent you a letter, and keep a gi-huge-ic file in case you want to read any of them. However this one I'll pass right on, with the present that's been checked and cleared."