A wave of relief washed through Cass. If Valor wasn’t coming for the gala, odds were good it would be another year before he saw his brother.
“I’m sure he’s not doing it to defy you.” Mercy sounded as calm and reasonable as only she could in the face of the Grand Conductor’s wrath. “Didn’t he give a reason?”
“He says he has urgent business to attend to that prevents him from making the trip, which is ridiculous. He’s in Cormaire, and I haven’t heard any news from that city in weeks. Even so, I offered him use of my personal plane to fly in on the day of and out on the next. Still he refuses.”
“That is odd,” Mercy said. “I’ll talk to him.”
Steadfastness nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Cass. “What are you doing here? Dinner’s not for another hour. Shouldn’t you be at work?”
If I should be at work, you should be at work. “I took the afternoon off, so I thought I’d come over early to help Mom with dinner.” Cass braced himself for any number of responses---about cooking being women’s work, about time off work being for slackers, about any number of failures Cass manifested with his mere existence.
Instead, the Grand Conductor simply made a noise that from anyone less important would have been a snort. “If you need me, I’ll be up in my office.” His tone said, “Don’t need me.”
If Steadfastness was sufficiently upset at Valor not to berate Cass, his mood had to be more foul than usual. Cass considered waiting for a more opportune moment to tell his father about the gaps in security, but he knew he’d have to wait forever for an appropriate time. “Wait, Dad. I also had something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh?” Steadfastness arched a condescending eyebrow at his son.
Cass took a deep breath. “I’ve been working on a bit of a side project.”
Steadfastness frowned. “Side project and an afternoon off? Clearly the tech staff has too much time on their hands. I’ll have to talk to Tenacity about all these priorities she says her staff doesn’t have time for.”
“No, Dad, this isn’t something I’ve been doing during work hours.” Not true, but he’s not the human lie detector Mom is. “You know me. I always liked to have a project going.”
“I hope this endeavor is more useful than those childish animals you’re always making for yourself,” Steadfastness said.
Cass wanted to point out that the “childish animals” were some of the most advanced AIs a paladin had ever created, but he needed to to tell his father about the security holes, not revisit old arguments. “No, I think you’ll find this much more useful. I had heard rumors about Citadel guards seeing shadows with nothing attached during their patrols, but nothing showed up on camera.”
“Superstitious nonsense,” Steadfastness said.
“Agreed. However, I got to thinking. Perhaps there were sufficient gaps in our camera angles that someone could sneak around campus without the cameras picking them up. I compiled all the video footage and ran an analysis. I came up with a route through the Citadel I could take without being observed.”
The Grand Conductor appeared dubious. “Your little machine theories are all well and good, but they’re nothing to actual experience.”
Cass bit his lip to hold back more sharp words about how those “little machine theories” were fundamental to the technology that gave paladins their power. “I knew you’d say that, which is why I took the afternoon off to test it. I had another paladin watch the screens while I navigated the route I mapped out. She didn’t see me.” Before his father could inquire more, Cass held out a flash drive. “Look, I know you’re going to want to test this yourself, or at least have someone you trust do a run-through. The details for the route are on this. I wouldn’t bring this to you if I didn’t think my work would stand up to scrutiny.”
Steadfastness looked down at the flashdrive, then reached out a hand to take it. “I’ll look into it. Now, if there’s nothing else, I do have important work to do.”
For once, Cass noted, his father didn’t stress the word “important” after listening to something Cass said. As Steadfastness headed up the stairs to his office, Cass turned back to his mother. “So, what shall we do while we’re waiting for the stew to finish?”
Mercy looked concerned. “What was that you said about shadows?”
Cass shrugged. “Just something some of the warriors were saying.” He grabbed another carrot off the counter.
Mercy’s lips turned downward. “But if people are seeing something where you’re finding holes in the camera footage, that doesn’t mean there’s potential for a security breach. It means one has already occurred.”
Cass paused with the carrot halfway to his mouth. She was right. He’d been so focused on trying to solve the technical mystery, he hadn’t thought about the very real danger the paladins might have to face. “Well, we’ll have to hope Dad looks into it sooner rather than later.”
Mercy must have read the expression on Cass’s face, or perhaps she had the same doubts about her husband as her son did. “I’ll talk to him.”
Chapter 18
“Your leg is healing nicely,” Mercy told Clarity at her checkup two days later. “I think a couple more days on the crutches, but you should be back on your feet by the gala.”
Clarity breathed a sigh of relief that the various fights and stressors she’d put on her leg hadn’t hindered her recovery. She didn’t care about the gala, but she worried her medical leave would make her superiors think she was lazy or clumsy. Besides, all the time off gave her too much time to think about her failures. “And then I can go back to work?”
Mercy tsked. “I’d say I’d never seen a person so anxious to get back to work, but I’ve spent my life treating paladins. While I admire your dedication, health and safety come first. Probably another week of leave after you’re off the crutches, then light duty for a month.”
Clarity tried not to look too disappointed, as she didn’t want Mercy to feel bad. “Okay. I guess I’ll have to make do with that.” Clarity hopped off the table and grabbed her crutches. She was ready to head off to tech support, but she felt like Mercy wanted to say something. “Is there anything else?”
A little bit of pink appeared in Mercy’s cheeks. “I was talking to Cass last night, and I was concerned---”
As Mercy spoke, a red flash appeared at the side of Clarity’s vision, indicating she had an urgent call coming in. “Excuse me for one second?” She pressed the button on her watch, and Cass’s face appeared on the tiny screen. He was standing outside and didn’t look injured or even very upset, so she wondered why he had used the highest priority call. “What’s going on?”
“I think you’d better get down to the main gate as soon as you can,” Cass said.
Clarity was about to ask him why when she heard a shout come over the connection. “I need to talk to Clarity!” She recognized Evelyn’s voice.
“Get back, Azurite scum!” a male voice said. “The likes of you don’t belong in the Citadel!”
If Evelyn was trying to get into the Citadel---though Clarity couldn’t imagine why she would be---the situation could get very bad very quickly. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Try to keep everyone calm.”
“I’ll try,” Cass said. “Diplomacy is not my strongest suit, so hurry.”
By the time Cass had hung up, Clarity had already grabbed her crutches and was headed toward the door. “I’m sorry, Mercy, but I need to run. Can we finish this conversation later?”
“Wait,” Mercy said. Clarity turned around, not daring to disregard her superior. “That sounded urgent. You can borrow one of the emergency medical vehicles.”
Clarity didn’t want to say no, because she knew it would take her a good half hour to get to the gate on foot. “What if there’s an emergency?”
“We have more than one. Come on.” Mercy led Clarity through the “Staff
Only” door in the back of the medical facility and down a wide hallway to the ambulance bay. Within moments, Clarity had her crutches strapped to an emergency motorcycle and a helmet on her head. Mercy entered the code to turn it on. “Don’t put the sirens on or anything, but feel free to go as fast as you want. You can leave the bike with Dependability, and I’ll send someone to pick it up later.”
Clarity nodded and sped off down the walkways of the Citadel. This close to the lunch hour, a number of paladins were out in the open air, headed toward the cafeteria. Some of them gave Clarity strange looks, as if they didn’t know what to make of a medical vehicle with no sirens, but Clarity didn’t worry about the passersby except to dodge them.
When she got down to the main gate, Cass, Evelyn, and the same guard she had seen the week before stood outside the gatehouse. Evelyn, her Azure District patch prominent on her chest, glowered at the guard, who in turn looked none too pleased by her presence. The shouting before had stopped, but Clarity could feel the tension radiating from the scene, so she suspected both parties had only agreed to cease hostilities until she arrived.
Cass jogged over to her as she slowed the motorcycle. “Oh, thank the order. I was coming back from my last tux fitting before the gala when this woman showed up at the gate. She demanded to see you, and Confidence took exception to that. As you can see, things went downhill from there. I managed to get them to wait for you, but I don’t know how much longer their truce will hold out.”
While he talked, Clarity unstrapped her crutches from the bike. “See? You are diplomatic. And thanks. I’ll take it from here.” Clarity hobbled over to the fuming pair with as much authority as she could muster.
Evelyn’s face perked up when Clarity took her helmet off. “You came!”
“Yes.” Clarity glanced at the guard---Confidence, apparently---who eyed her with a wary expression. “What are you doing here?”
“I needed to talk to you.” Evelyn looked as if she wanted to say more but thankfully had the sense not to incriminate Clarity any further.
“And as I pointed out, Azurites have no business in the Citadel talking to paladins.” Confidence asked, putting his hand on the pistol at his waist and looking at Clarity. “I’d be happy to take care of the problem, if you like.”
Evelyn glared at Confidence. “Isn’t that just like a paladin? Shoot everything you perceive as a problem, because that’s easier than trying to solve it.”
“Lady, your kind shouldn’t be allowed in any part of Corinthium, and I won’t have you desecrating the Citadel with your presence.”
Okay. Wow. “Evelyn, there’s a tavern called the Copper Rooster at the bottom of the hill on the right. Go there and wait for me around the back. You should be safe enough there.”
Evelyn made a show of looking Clarity up and down, but when she said, “You promise you’ll come?” her voice was small.
“Yes,” Clarity said, in a tone that left no doubt. “I’ll be down as soon as I get everything sorted out here.” Evelyn nodded and headed down the hill. When she was out of sight, Clarity turned back to Confidence. On some level, she was aware he could get her into a lot of trouble, but she was too angry with him to care. “What were you thinking, threatening an unarmed woman like that? What kind of paladin are you?”
Confidence snorted. “‘Woman’ is a strong term for Azurite scum like her,” he said, still glaring off in the direction Evelyn had disappeared.
“She’s a human being.” Clarity wanted to reach out and slap some sense into him, but she didn’t think hitting him would do anything to solve his apparent penchant for violence.
“Barely.” He turned to look at her. “How do you know someone like that anyway?” His question indicated only mild curiosity, but Clarity knew her response could get her into trouble.
She chose her words carefully. “I’ve been taking a lot of trips into the city since I broke my ankle. Our paths crossed during one of those trips.” In her anger, she considered forcing him to understand Evelyn’s humanity by telling him a few things about the woman and what she had suffered, but she had enough presence of mind to realize such a step would result in a lot of trouble for her. Besides, she wasn’t sure the story would change his mind. “I’m going see what she wants.”
“And I’m going to report this incident. If the Azurites are getting bold enough to approach the Citadel, the higher-ups need to know about it.” Confidence considered Clarity. “You tested that motorcycle glitch out, so I’ll leave your name out of it. If it happens again. I won’t be so kind.”
Clarity nodded. “Thank you. I’ll make sure she doesn’t come back.”
He grunted. “You’d better.”
Before heading down the hill, Clarity circled back to Cass. “Thanks for calling me. That could have gotten ugly.”
“Uglier, you mean,” said Cass with a glower.
Clarity followed his gaze to Confidence, who was still watching them. “She shouldn’t have been here, but I had no idea hatred for the Azurites ran so deep in the order.”
“Not everyone is like you,” Cass said. “Some paladins cut off people’s arms for fun and games.”
Clarity reached out and put a hand on his arm. “Not everyone is like Valor, either. Paladins---most paladins, at least---are decent people. The Visionary ensures that.” She pulled her hand back, and her gaze lost its focus. “But segregating the Azure District isn’t doing anyone any good. There has to be a way to find common ground.”
“You’re going to solve all the paladins’ problems yourself, are you?” When Cass spoke, she looked back at him, and he had a small smile on his face.
“Someone’s got to.” She sighed. “I’d better go see what Evelyn wants. I’m going to miss tech support today, I think. Hopefully you won’t take that as an excuse to skip training.”
“Nope, I learned my lesson.” Cass took a few steps up the path, then turned back to her. He looked like he wanted to say something but just stared at her instead.
“Is there anything else?” she asked, trying to read the expression on his face.
He shook his head, as if to clear his mind rather than indicate a negative. “Just be careful. You don’t know what Evelyn wants.”
“I will.” Clarity turned and headed toward the gate. “I always am.”
“No, you’re not!” Cass called, but Clarity could hear the smile in his voice. She gave him a wink over her shoulder, then went through the gate. Confidence kept his eyes on her the whole way but didn’t stop her. He didn’t need to ask her business in the city. He already knew.
Evelyn was pacing back and forth behind the Copper Rooster when Clarity got to the bottom of the hill. When she saw Clarity, she breathed a sigh of relief, but her tone when she spoke was harsh. “What took you so long?”
“I had to do some damage control.” It’s just as well I have crutches, because if my hands weren’t occupied, I might shake her. “What were you thinking, showing up at the Citadel? You know Azurites aren’t welcome there.”
“Paladins aren’t welcome in the Azure District, and that never stopped you.”
“Touche.” Clarity moved closer to Evelyn and noticed the woman appeared even more haggard than she had when Clarity had brought her the medicine. Clarity had attributed Evelyn’s distraught state to Confidence’s behavior, but the guard was out of sight, and Evelyn didn’t look any better. “What’s wrong? Is it Kimessa? Did the Dovexin not work?”
“No, it worked. Kimessa is her cheerful, happy self again.” For a moment, Evelyn’s eyes lit up, but her countenance shifted to a stressed scowl. “But now Emmett is sick. And worse, everyone knows I got medicine from the paladins. Some people---Garrett’s men, mostly---are angry about it, but a lot of parents want to know if I can get Dovexin for them, too. So I had to find you, to ask you. Can you get more?”
Clarity took a deep breath. The truth was, she didn’t h
ave any options for getting more medicine, but she couldn’t tell Evelyn that. The woman’s son and his friends were dying. “I’ll see what I can do.” Cass is right. I am trying to save the whole world. But then, I’m right to. Someone has to.
Evelyn reached out and gave Clarity a hug. “Thank you so much!”
When the Azurite pulled back, Clarity saw tears of hope in her eyes. I have to figure out a way to get that medicine. Maybe Cass will have some ideas. If nothing else, we can rob the medical facility. She would hate to do that to Mercy after the doctor had shown her such kindness today, but she had to believe Mercy wouldn’t want children to die. “You’d better go. We may not be on Citadel property, but we’re pretty close, and I’m not sure it’s safe for you here.”
Evelyn stiffened. “I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t doubt it, but you can’t help your children if you’re arrested.”
Wincing, Evelyn nodded. “You’re right. I’ll be careful. And hopefully I’ll see you in a few days.”
“You will.” Clarity watched as Evelyn disappeared around the corner, then headed back up the hill to the Citadel.
After riding the motorcycle back to Mercy, Clarity realized she still had most of the lunch hour left. She thought about going to tech support but decided to go meet up with Hope and Zeal for a decent lunch. They had once again managed to get an outdoor table, so she approached them before heading into the cafeteria.
“Clarity!” A bright smile shone on Hope’s face when Clarity sat down.
“Don’t you have tech support?” Zeal asked, looking more curious than delighted at her friend’s presence. But, then, Clarity had never seen Zeal delighted about anything that didn’t involve beating someone at something.
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