by J. J. Green
“Your megalomaniac family’s ambitions are of no interest to me nor any other decent-minded person. What was it that went wrong with the Sherrerrs, do you think, Stefan? Did a splicer make an absent-minded slip a few generations ago that set your clan on its mad path toward galactic domination?”
Ignoring her question, Stefan replied, “Oh, but you should be interested, Faye. Our declaration of war on the Dirksens has important implications for the mages in the family.”
They had been walking along a path as Stefan guided Faye back to the house. At his words, Faye halted. “Why is that?”
“I thought that might capture your attention,” Stefan replied smugly. “I didn’t want to tell the children last night. At their tender ages, it doesn’t do to worry or alarm them too much.”
Faye marveled at how he thought that beating their mother didn’t worry or alarm the children.
“But the reason that we’re moving to another location is due to the fact that they’re going to play a major role in the conflict. I talked up their abilities to Raith Sherrerr. He’s expecting high things of them.”
Her heart racing, Faye said, “But I told you long ago, we can’t kill. Mages can’t kill. Or else how do you think it was possible to capture Kris and I?”
Stefan turned pale and glowered. “And I told you never to mention that man’s name.”
Faye’s body was rigid and her fists clenched. “We can’t kill. You won’t make my children into murderers.”
“You may not be able to actually kill—and I’m still not sure I quite believe that—but I’m sure there are other ways of causing harm to our enemies. What if you were to move a company of soldiers to the deep ocean, for example? Or make a starship’s engine explode? I’m sure you could do it, with a little persuasion.” He ran a finger down her neck to the top of her cleavage, making her shudder with disgust.
“No,” Faye said. “It doesn’t work like that. If Casting might cause harm to someone...it...it doesn’t work. We can’t do it.” Her words sounded unconvincing, and Stefan wasn’t slow to pick up on her hesitation.
“I’ll soon find out the truth of that. You were always forthcoming when I threatened the children.”
“That won’t work. You’ll never make me believe you would kill one of our children. Castiel and Nahla are too precious to you and the others are too useful. You’ve said so yourself.”
“You’re right,” Stefan replied. “I wouldn’t kill them. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t hurt them.”
Rage exploded in Faye. She lifted her hand to strike Stefan, but he caught her wrist and forced it downward, bending her arm so painfully Faye thought it would break. She cried out and grabbed at his face with her other hand. This time, she was too fast for him, and her nails gouged furrows in his cheeks before he managed to wrench them away from him.
He had both her wrists in his powerful grip. He forced her to her knees, his face a mask of glowering hate hanging over her. Faye’s ability to control her reaction to her husband’s maltreatment of her had all but disappeared. She lunged at his stomach and fastened her teeth on it, biting down with all the force she possessed. Through the material of his vest and shirt, she felt his flesh between her teeth.
“Arghhhhh,” Stefan exclaimed. He let go of her wrists and wrestled her head away from him. He kicked her so hard that she fell to the ground, her head hitting the stone path. Sparks flickered in her vision and blackness threatened to encroach. Faye sat up and put a hand to her head. Her vision cleared, and she saw Stefan striding away.
She leapt to her feet, fighting her lightheadedness and the throb from where she’d hit her head. Her hands bunched into fists, she screamed, “You won’t get away with it this time, Stefan Sherrerr. I’ll kill you first.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Carina was up to her knees in mud. Trees surrounded her, their canopies blocking out the sky. The trees’ roots rose as high as Carina’s head and the place reeked of odorous brine. She guessed that meant she was in some kind of estuary forest and that the tide could come in at any moment. The planet had one close moon and the tides were so high, the tidal zones stretching for kilometers.
Her Cast had gone a little awry, unsurprisingly. Carina wasn’t well acquainted with the topography of the planet. Still, she shouldn’t be too far from her intended destination—the capital city. At its spaceport she could expect to find some sort of passage on a ship heading offplanet.
She had some elixir left. Should she just Cast again? She was alone as far as she could tell and not in immediate danger. She decided it would be wise to conserve the precious liquid in case she encountered a situation in which she needed it more.
Carina tried to pull first one leg and then the other out of the mud, but she could only move them a little, and then she seemed to sink lower than before. As she struggled, she consoled herself that she hadn’t Transported herself inside a tree or into the ocean. There did seem to be some kind of safeguard with the Cast so that it wasn’t possible to move a solid object inside another solid object, so arriving in the tree would have been unlikely, but she wasn’t sure if the same rule applied to liquid.
Something in the mud slithered past Carina’s calf. Gulping down a squeal, she jerked her leg upward. It shifted a little and she strained to hold it where it was and retain the little movement she’d managed. She looked around. She needed something to grip. If she could hold onto something solid on the surface, she should be able to gradually ease herself out.
The only thing that looked as though it was within reach was a tree root. Carina put her hands on the mud and walked them forward until she was lying as horizontal as possible. Her knees were bent painfully backward, but she reached the root and grasped it firmly with both hands. As she did so, she noticed a layer of water on the mud grow deeper as she watched it.
Carina cursed. She gently moved her legs while at the same time pulling as hard as she could on the root. Her right leg lifted a little more, and then her left. The rapidly encroaching water was filling the gaps she was making around her legs, dissolving the mud and making her task easier. At last, one leg was free. Carina knelt with it gently on the watery mud while she worked on the other leg.
The mud released her left leg with a watery, satisfying plop. Relying mostly on the pull of her arms on the root, Carina slid across the mud to the tree. Its cold, wet, sliminess penetrated her Sherrerr uniform and soaked her to the skin. She quickly climbed the limb-like tree roots until she was balancing on top of them. From the brightest patch of light in the canopy, she guessed the rough direction of the sun and so also the direction of the city, and set off toward it.
Carina used the roots as stepping stones to prevent her from needing to walk on the muddy floor, which was quickly becoming aquatic. But they were damp from their previous submersion and a black algae clung to them. Her chances of slipping and falling in were high. It was time to quit being so cautious, and Transport herself again to a hopefully more favorable location.
She took out her canister of elixir and unscrewed it, but as she lifted the container to her lips, she spotted a green bank through the tree trunks. She was only a short distance from higher ground, if she could make it without falling in.
Leaning on the rough bark of the tree trunks for balance and for purchase, Carina continued to tread carefully on the roots until she reached the foot of the bank. Her previous view of it had deceived her. The greenery began at a level higher than she’d thought. Across from the last stand of trees, over a narrow dip, was a swathe of black and brown, muddy foliage. The high tide mark, where the green, drier-looking stuff began, was two or three meters above her head.
Still, she thought she could scramble up it, and she was already covered in mud. She couldn’t get any wetter or dirtier. She made the leap across the dip and clung to the slippery stems. At the same time, she dug the toes of her boots into the soft surface. Crawling upward spider-like, Carina reached the green ground in a few minutes.
&n
bsp; After that, the going was easier. The bank sloped at an angle that meant she had to continue on all fours rather than two legs, but the air was fresher after the stench among the trees and she was no longer in danger of being swamped by the incoming ocean.
When she reached the top, Carina turned and sat down to catch her breath. She was looking down on the tree tops and out across a glimmering ocean. The sun hung low and the large, crater-strewn moon was high in the sky. Carina had visited many planets in her short time as a merc, and this was one of the prettier ones. It wasn’t a surprise that the Sherrerrs had chosen it as the base of their operations.
All she had were her skills, her wits, and a three-quarters-full bottle of elixir. The latter meant that she wouldn’t go hungry, but she couldn’t Transport herself to another planet, more was the pity.
Her breathing had returned to normal, and the wind was drying her sweat, leaving her cold and uncomfortable. A hungry ache had started up in her belly too. It was time to move on if she wanted to reach the capital by nightfall.
She stood and scrambled over the top of the bank. Farmland lay on the other side. Smooth, green, cropped vegetation sloped down from her feet, and animals were lazily grazing it. Hundreds of the knee-high bipedal creatures the locals grew for meat dotted the slope down to the bottom, where a large farmhouse stood. The capital city lay on the horizon.
The animals were entirely uninterested in Carina as she went across the field in long strides. However, the herders watching them were very interested in her.
“Hey,” a voice yelled. “Where do you think you’re going? You’re not allowed here. This is private property.”
Carina turned and spotted the owner of the voice: a youthful man in old clothes and a floppy hat, appearing above a fold in the land.
“I got lost,” she called back. “I’m leaving now.”
“Oh, are you?” another voice shouted. This person was approaching from below. She was older and her skin was reddened by the sun. “We’ll see about that. Stop where you are. I want to make sure you haven’t stolen any of our stock.”
Carina supposed it was vaguely possible that she’d broken the neck of one of their livestock and pushed it inside her shirt, but it seemed an unlikely conjecture. “I don’t have anything of yours,” she snapped, and altered her direction to avoid crossing paths with either of the herders. The woman and youth changed direction too.
Carina was annoyed. She had enough to contend with. She didn’t need suspicious farmers added to the mix. She adjusted her path again and began to jog.
“Catch her, Piffer,” the woman shouted to the young man. “Show her she can’t just wander over our land without permission.”
Piffer started to run.
Carina sped up. The situation was ridiculous. She could fight off the man and the woman she presumed was his mother, but why should she? Why couldn’t they just let her go on her way? “I told you, I don’t have any of your stupid animals,” she yelled. “Now leave me alone.”
It wasn’t until the man had nearly caught up to her that Carina understood what she needed to do. She’d been worried about her Sherrerr uniform being a liability. Any member of the clan or employee who saw her would wonder what she was doing, and perhaps demand to know. Yet everywhere on the planet and for most of the sector, the Sherrerr insignia was known and feared.
She slid to a halt on the moist vegetation and spun to face her pursuer. The stylized blade on her collar was covered in mud, so she roughly rubbed it with the edge of her sleeve. Her chin up, she stared the man in the eye as he drew closer. When he saw the emblem, he also skidded to a stop.
Carina glared.
“Mother...”
“What’s wrong?” the woman shouted. “Grab her.”
“Er, I don’t think that would be a very good idea.”
“Why not?” The woman arrived, sweaty and red-faced. “Oh.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
As far back as she could remember, Carina had known of the Sherrerrs and the aura of intimidation and disquiet they radiated. Like most people, she’d tried to avoid coming into direct contact with any of them or their dealings. Everyone knew the best place to be when Sherrerr—or Dirksen—business was afoot was as far away as possible.
Yet Carina wasn’t prepared for the deference and plain fear the mother-and-son pair of farmers, Bunter and Piffer, displayed when they thought she was working for the clan. She’d only wanted them to let her go on her way in peace, but they insisted on her going back with them to the farmhouse so that she could clean up and eat something before she left.
No doubt they were frightened of retaliation for their behavior and were anxious to put things right before she left. Carina was cold, wet, and hungry enough to not take too much persuasion to agree to their offer. Bunter looked relieved when she said she would go with them, and told Piffer to run ahead and draw a hot bath.
“I’ll make a roast,” Bunter said, smiling deferentially, her already-rosy cheeks afire. As they went the rest of the way to the farmhouse, following Piffer’s disappearing heels, Bunter twice stooped and grabbed one of the grazing beasts by its neck. She swiftly twisted the necks then slung the bodies of the beasts over her back, holding onto their heads. The newly dead animals bounced in time with her steps. “Nice and fresh,” Bunter said.
The bath was ready by the time Bunter showed Carina into the bathroom of the old house. She waited for Carina’s uniform while she undressed and promised to get as much dirt out of it as she could while dinner was cooking. Carina retrieved her elixir bottle before handing the farmer the wet clothes.
She sank into the hot water gratefully after Bunter left. Perhaps it was all a trap, but she doubted it. The horror on the farmers’ faces when they realized her allegiance hadn’t been faked. She felt a little guilty about taking advantage of them, but quickly forgot about it when she remembered they’d chased her and had wanted to beat her.
There was a knock at the door. “I’ve put a bathrobe just outside,” Piffer called, “to wear while your clothes are drying.”
Carina began to soap herself and wash off the grit and grime of the marsh. The soap stung the cuts and grazes she’d gathered along the way. Next, she lathered her hair and used a jug to rinse it with clean water from the faucet. By the time Bunter called to say that dinner was ready, Carina was feeling better than she had in a long time.
She dried herself and put on the bathrobe, slipping her elixir bottle into the pocket. The gown covered her legs to the floor and her arms to the wrists, giving her an idea. On tiptoe, she went down across the landing and opened a door. The room held a single bed and a wardrobe. On the nightstand was a picture of a pretty young girl who bore no resemblance to Bunter or Piffer. Carina guessed it was the latter’s room and the girl in the photograph was someone he liked romantically.
Piffer was about Carina’s size. She went to his wardrobe and took out a pair of pants and a shirt. They were old and worn but clean. She put them on then covered them with the bathrobe before going downstairs. Her Sherrerr uniform had proven useful but she needed to ditch it before it invited too many questions she couldn’t answer.
Bunter and Piffer were waiting for her in the kitchen. Only one place at the table was set. They weren’t going to eat with her, only watch her eat. Awkward. Carina didn’t think she would have gotten used to being a Sherrerr guard.
The meal was delicious and Carina enjoyed it despite the over-zealous attentions of the farmers. Her uniform steamed on a chair in front of the hot stove. Breaking the painful silence, Bunter said, “I got most of the mud out of it. Should be good as new in a few hours.”
“I can’t wait that long,” Carina replied. “I’ll have to wear it wet.”
The news that she would be leaving soon caused a visible slackening in the tension on the farmers’ faces. Then Piffer’s positively brightened and he blurted, “I could try putting it in the seed airer.”
“Yes, that might help,” Bunter said.
The young man grabbed Carina’s uniform and sped from the room.
“We have a machine to dry the seeds we keep for next year,” Bunter explained. “It stops them from going moldy in storage.”
“Oh,” Carina said. “Good idea.” She was distracted with filling her belly with as much of the roasted meat and other dishes that she could. She had a long walk ahead of her that night.
“It’s funny,” said Bunter, “we haven’t seen Sherrerr troops around here for a while. And you’re by yourself.”
Carina nodded and swallowed a mouthful of food. “Surveillance. I can’t say any more than that. Do you have anything to drink?”
“Yes, of course,” Bunter replied. “Of course. What was I thinking?” She went into a parlor and returned with a jug. “Is beer okay? We don’t have anything stronger.” She leaned forward and said in a lowered tone, “Piffer can’t hold it. Then he’s no good for work the next day. I won’t have it in the house.”
“Beer is fine.”
Carina was trying to think of a way to plumb the woman’s mind for useful information, but every subtle inquiry she could think up was guaranteed to raise suspicion. She had no good reason to be asking about starships scheduled to arrive or depart from the capital’s spaceport, assuming Bunter would even know, which seemed doubtful. And anything that Carina might ask about the movements of Sherrerr guards or soldiers was definitely a bad idea.
When her stomach really couldn’t hold any more, she pushed back her seat and said, “Thanks. I’m done. Can you ask your son if I can have my uniform? I’ll be on my way.”
“Are you sure you’ve had enough?” Bunter asked. “There’s plenty left.”
“Yes, I’m sure. It was very good.”
