Daughter of Discord (Star Mage Saga Book 1)

by J. J. Green

  “I’m glad you liked it. What about some dessert? I have some fruit compote in the parlor.”

  Carina had been in the process of standing up. She stopped and looked the woman in the eye. Bunter looked away. Something wasn’t right. The farmer should have been glad to see her go, not trying to delay her.

  She ran for the door, but when she flung it open, Piffer was there waiting for her. He went to punch her, but Carina swerved. She caught him with an upper cut under his chin, snapping his head back and sending him unconscious to the floor.

  When the two farmers had begun to suspect her, Carina didn’t know. Probably while she was in the bath, when they had time to think over her presence, which made no real sense. Why would a lone Sherrerr soldier wander the area unless he or she lived nearby? Carina was a stranger with a weak excuse for being in those parts. The farmers must have contacted the Sherrerrs and been told to keep her there as long as possible while they made their way over.

  They hadn’t yet arrived or it would have been someone in a Sherrerr uniform waiting for her on the other side of the kitchen door. However, she probably didn’t have much time.

  Carina headed for the rear of the house, leaving behind the cursing and wailing of Bunter, who was tending to her son. The Sherrerrs would probably approach the house from the road. If she was quick enough, she could slip out the back before they surrounded the place.

  With a gasp of frustration, Carina realized she was barefoot. Her boots were by the front door. She doubled back, ran past the still-prone Piffer and his lamenting mother, snatched up her wet, muddy boots, and scooted back the way she’d come. A thud resounded from the front door. Carina’s heart leapt into her mouth. The Sherrerrs had arrived.

  She didn’t have time to put on her boots. She didn’t have time to take any precautions. Carina had reached the back door. She threw open the bolts and raced outside.

  “There she is,” a voice shouted. A hiss of pulse round flew past her ear. Not far from the back door stood a hedge that backed onto the fields behind. Carina ducked down and forced her way under it.

  “Get her,” someone shouted.

  The bathrobe was snagging on the branches, and it was a pale color, easily spotted in the darkness. Carina undid the tie and struggled out of it, seizing her elixir bottle before she abandoned the garment.

  Her boots in her other hand, she raced along the hedge, using it as cover. It split two ways, and Carina took the direction that led her out into the farmland, praying that the Sherrerrs wouldn’t bother to pursue her too far. She was a long way from the mountains. She doubted the local clan would have connected the report of someone masquerading as a Sherrerr soldier with the disappearance of another soldier many kilometers away.

  Keeping close to the hedges, she ran on until a stitch in her side forced her to slow down. She risked a glance over her shoulder. The fields were dark. The only lights visible were from the distant farmhouse and a few vehicles clustered outside.

  Carina slowed to a stop and sank to the ground, her breathing ragged. Her feet felt like they were cut to pieces from her run, but she could Cast Heal and in a few moments they would be okay. She was still far from the capital and the spaceport that was her route offplanet, but she’d swapped the uniform that would identify her for civilian clothes and she had a full belly.

  Carina put on her boots. Things seemed to be taking a turn for the better.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  When Carina had been a little girl, she’d often wished that she could create something out of nothing through Casting. Sadly, she’d found that her Nai Nai never taught her that Cast, and eventually, when she’d gotten up the courage to ask about it, her grandmother had explained that though it was possible to create matter from energy, that was a job for top scientists, not mages, and that to create something from nothing was what she would call magic.

  Carina could have simply Transported someone else’s cash into her pocket. All she had to do was to see it. But that would have been stealing, and, as well as being intrinsically wrong, Nai Nai had told her that you never knew for sure if that person needed the money more than you.

  Carina had Transported herself close to the city’s outskirts but she couldn’t risk suddenly appearing in busy areas. So, without credits for an autocar, she was forced to walk all the way from the outskirts of the capital to the spaceport. Her belly, which had been full the previous night, was soon empty again, By the time she arrived at her destination, she was footsore and ravenous.

  The spaceport was one of the biggest Carina had ever seen. The field was divided into three sections: shuttles that ferried passengers to deep-space vessels traveling outsystem; shuttles that belonged to interplanetary spacecraft that journeyed to insystem planets or to go asteroid mining; and local shuttles that only went into orbit for fast journeys to distant countries.

  She arrived at the end where the shuttles were parked. She was on one side of the security fence and the vessels were on the other, with an access road running across the center of the field. Multi-person autocars ran up and down the road, ferrying the crew to the buildings at the far end of the spaceport, where their IDs would be processed if they wanted to spend time planetside.

  The cargo loading bays and fuel stations were in another part of the spaceport, so once the crews had left, the shuttles stood still and silent. Somewhere above in high orbit, long range deep-space vessels awaited some of them. Carina hoped she would soon be aboard just such a spacecraft—a ship that would take her far from the Sherrerr-controlled system and all the sad memories it held for her.

  It was a pity she hadn’t gotten to see the little Sherrerr boy, Darius, again. He’d been a sweet, smart kid, and the only mage she’d ever really known apart from Nai Nai. Her parents had been mages too, but she couldn’t remember them very well. But it couldn’t be helped that she hadn’t been able to meet Darius or his family. Her time on Ithiya had been a wild goose chase.

  She walked slowly along the fence, scrutinizing the shuttles. The local vessels bore the name of their company. Others were named according to the spacecraft to which they belonged: Matador, Sandra, Ambition, Colossus, Marchana, Shooting Star, The Falcon, Whirlwind, Nightfall. Most of the shuttles looked well cared for, even the older models. Failing to keep your ships shipshape on space flights rarely ended well, and that didn’t only apply to the interiors. A clean exterior where scratches were buffed out and holes and scrapes repaired made for a better attitude from the crew. Captain Speidel had told her that.

  However, a shuttle that was well cared for was not what Carina needed. Such a craft would have strict protocols for hiring staff, and the crew would follow them or find themselves dismissed at the next planet. But Carina had nothing to prove who she was. She’d never carried proper papers. Somewhere during her homeless period she’d lost them. Either that or she’d never had any. She wasn’t sure. It hadn’t mattered too much up until then. Merc bands were less interested in that kind of thing than they were in whether you could fire straight and had the guts to kill someone in hand-to-hand combat.

  What she was looking for was a seedier kind of craft. A vessel that probably did a little contraband smuggling, like weapons, drugs, or people. If she’d had the gems, she could have sold them to pay for passage on such a ship, but now she had the harder task of persuading the captain to allow her to work her passage.

  She saw exactly what she was looking for. It was a squat shuttle, a little small. Too small to be in the deep spacecraft section, yet there it was. A small craft had a small hold. Yet only the large starships could carry sufficient cargo to make the weeks, months, and even years-long trips between systems economically viable. If the shuttle was small, its spacecraft was also small, which meant it had to be carrying rare, expensive cargo, or, as was more likely, it was a smuggler.

  What was more, it was scratched, scraped, pockmarked, and filthy. No one cared about that ship. They were only interested in making some fast money and moving on.


  Someone in overalls was sitting on the ramp cleaning his fingernails with the point of a small knife. He looked like a seasoned space traveler—pale, greasy, and with dark circles under his eyes. His gut pulled his clothes tight as it hung out over his lap. Carina guessed he was a cargo hand or something similar. Not the person to talk to about being hired, but he would have to do.

  “Hey,” Carina called through the fence.

  The man looked up at her and looked away again. He started cleaning the nails on his other hand.

  “Hey,” Carina shouted again. “What are you shipping?”

  The man got up without looking at her again and went inside the ship.

  Carina cursed. But the man reappeared and came over to where she was standing.

  She began, “I was wondering—”

  Then she saw he was pointing a gun at her. He held it close to his side so that it wasn’t obvious what he was doing.

  “I don’t mean any harm,” Carina said, backing away. “I’m just looking for a ship to work passage on. I can work security.”

  “No you can’t. If you could work security you would know not to ask stupid questions. Now fuck off.” The man turned to walk away.

  “I’m an ex-merc,” Carina said. “That gun you’re holding is a Deacon X5 and if I had to fight you I’d go for your left knee.”

  The man stopped and faced her. “How’d you know about my knee?”

  “The way you walked over. You favor your right leg. And knees are weak points anyway.”

  He rubbed his stubble as he scanned her from head to toe and back again. “You don’t look like a merc.”

  “I started young.”

  He paused, considering. “I can’t deny we could do with another hand aboard ship. The first mate’s been arrested and won’t be leaving the planet anytime soon. But we’re a small operation. You wouldn’t only be working security. You’d have to pitch in with everything. Cargo handling, maintenance, cleaning up in the mess.”

  “I don’t mind. I’ll do whatever you want. When are you shipping out?”

  “Hold on. No one said you were hired. And what’s your hurry? Is someone looking for you? Done something you shouldn’t?”

  “No,” Carina lied. “I’m just sick of this planet. Can’t wait to get off it.”

  “I don’t want anyone coming after you. Like I said, we’re a small operation. Can’t afford to have the authorities breathing down our necks. You get what I mean?”

  She got it. He didn’t want to attract any attention that might result in a thorough search of the ship. She wondered what it was they were smuggling. “Sure.”

  “Okay, meet me at the crew entrance in a couple of hours.”

  “Is it a sure thing? Do I have a job? Or do you have to speak to the captain?”

  “I am the captain.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Two hours was a long time for Carina to waste. She had no money, nothing to do, and nowhere to go. She decided to hang around the departures area of the spaceport. Her work aboard the smugglers’ ship was by no means guaranteed and she thought she might spot another opportunity that was possibly more legal. She found a quiet corner and sat on the floor while she people-watched.

  It was the usual crowd that passed through such places. Ultra-rich travelers arriving for luxury cruises or to depart on their private vessels. These were easy to identify from their clothes, their bearing, and their retinue of servants, porters, and bodyguards. Carina considered approaching one of these groups to find out if they needed extra security help but quickly put the idea aside. Most of the wealthy in that area were either Sherrerrs or closely affiliated with the family. Coming into contact with the Sherrerrs again was the last thing she needed.

  Much more common than the wealthy crowd were the local vacationers off on trips to far-distant countries or even tourist resorts on other planets or the system’s moons. These were far less stately, less well-dressed, and louder. They let their children run riot around the place while they waited in line to go through to their gate.

  In that galactic region there weren’t many aliens, but they were naturally more likely to be seen at a major spaceport, and this one was no exception. Carina saw quadrupeds with prehensile noses, multi-limbed arthropods, and bipedal aliens in environment suits that protected them from the local atmosphere and possibly air pressure too. Most of the human passengers were polite enough not to stare, but many younger children would stop their play to watch the aliens pass, and sometimes they even went up and prodded them before being hauled away by an embarrassed parent.

  Carina had encountered more aliens than most and usually without any problems. Sentient species tended to understand that even when clear communication was possible, the gulf between cultures and thought processes was too vast to be easily crossed, and so each left the other well alone.

  The first time Carina had fought aliens was an event in her life she rarely thought about and would rather have forgotten. She’d been ten years old, and it was the first time she’d killed. The aliens in question were regians, who possessed the odd ability to shift in time. They didn’t move far, only a few moments into the future and the past. Yet their ability made them a formidable enemy because they were so difficult to kill. The pulse round, knife or whatever had to hit them at the exact moment that they passed through the present in order to make contact. Otherwise the offensive weapon hit empty air.

  Carina had managed to kill the aliens with a Cast called Split. The name said it all. The Cast tore the aliens apart, and because Casts worked over several moments, the effect was slow enough to hit the regians on target.

  Carina shuddered. She hated using her mage abilities to kill. A shot to the head or a knife to the heart was fast and clean and was her preferred method to go out with if she ever lost a fight. Casting to kill wasn’t only more difficult than killing without magic due to the necessity of drinking elixir and writing the character, it was long, drawn-out, and agonizing to the victim. She’d met some bad characters over the years, but she hadn’t met anyone who she felt deserved that kind of death.

  “Carina,” a familiar voice said. “I thought I’d find you here.”

  Startled from her reverie, Carina looked up to see Bryce standing over her. “What the hell?” She stood up. “What are you doing here? I sent you back to that town, not the capital. And I thought I told you we couldn’t meet again. Leave me alone.” She began to walk away.

  Bryce clutched her arm. “Don’t go. Please. I came in on the morning shuttle and it’s taken me hours to find you. I thought you would be trying to go offplanet. I only want to talk to you.”

  “Well I don’t want to talk to you. I saved you, remember? If you’re grateful for that, you can pay me back by doing what I ask.”

  “I understand why you don’t want to have anything to do with me after what you did, but you can trust me, Carina. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”

  “Bryce,” Carina said, her tone softening. “I don’t think you would do anything to hurt me—at first. But things would change over time. You would see me differently. Eventually, I wouldn’t be Carina to you, I would be a mage with all that entails. Understand me when I say I can’t afford to have friends who know what I can do. It just isn’t safe, especially for me, but also for you.”

  “Okay, okay. I think I understand. I won’t force you. But let me get you something to eat at least. Let me return the favor, just a little?”

  Was he being genuine, or was it a trap? Had Bryce divulged what she’d done, and had someone put him up to finding her and capturing her? Her friend’s expression seemed open and honest. And she was very hungry. “All right, but I want to go somewhere I can see all approaches.”

  “Yeah, of course,” Bryce replied, looking wounded.

  Cafes and eateries sat at the edges of the departure area, and Carina chose one that had an empty table out front. The site gave her a wide view. Bryce went inside to order some food, then returned to the table with t
wo glasses of the local brew. He put one in front of Carina and sipped the other as he sat down.

  When he was seated, Carina swapped the glasses. He looked puzzled for a moment then said, “You don’t really think I would drug you?”

  “I don’t know what you’d do, and if my caution upsets you, I don’t care. I can’t afford to take chances. You don’t understand what could happen to me. You haven’t thought it through. If you had, you wouldn’t be surprised that I swapped our drinks.”

  He took a sip of his new drink. “I guess you’re right. I don’t get it. If I could do what you can, I wouldn’t be hiding it, I’d be using my powers to make myself rich.”

  “You might try, until someone figures out what you’re doing and decides to make you make them rich instead. And what do you think they would do to you if you refused?”

  “But I would just—”

  “What?” Carina asked angrily. “What would you just do? It isn’t easy or simple, you know.”

  “Okay, calm down. I was only trying to figure it out. If you say the best thing you can do is keep things under wraps, I accept that. You would have a better idea than me.”

  “Damn right I would.”

  Their food arrived. Neither Carina nor Bryce said anything until the waiter had returned into the cafe. Then Bryce picked up his fork, dug it into Carina’s food, and ate a mouthful. “Satisfied?”

  Carina began to eat, glancing at the clock that overhung the departure area. She had an hour until it was time to meet the smuggler captain in the crew section.

  “So you are going offplanet?” Bryce asked.

  “That’s the idea.”

  “Deep space?”

  “If I can. I want to put as much of the black between me and this place as possible.”

  “Because of the danger that someone will guess what you did at the Sherrerr place, and come after you?”

  “That, and other things. I’ve had enough of Ithiya. It’s time to move on. How about you? Have you found a way to afford your treatment?”