It’s your shadow army, Vera! They’ve come! They’re here!
My army? Here? I bit back my scream and tasted blood. Around me shadows were pouring out of me like ants from a hill, and standing proud and fierce beside me was Zeta with her arms crossed over her chest. A shadow reached from behind her and wrenched her back a step. I followed the movement and saw Driscoll step up to my right where Zeta had been a moment before. He grinned at me.
My eyes went wide and I gripped Roman’s hand, not certain if I could take the emotional shock of this moment.
Ready to redecorate this field? Driscoll asked. The Baldric Army, as I have renamed them, is at your service.
How?-
Never underestimate the power of a determined spirit, he said, as Kitsano pushed her way up to him and seized one of his hands.
My eyebrows rose. If he was determined enough to take an army away from Zeta by sheer force of will, I was very impressed.
You got that from me, he said. We’ve always had passion to put the steel into our determination. It was enough to tip the balance.
From across the valley a thundering sound came. I didn’t know what it might be from, but I booted my tactical software and saw thousands of red inverted carets spread across the map with a name tag over Nigel’s head. Very handy.
I see you have made your obeisance, Nigel said in my head. He was confusing pain for respect. His voice sounded echoey in the implant, like this connection wasn’t fully real. How had he managed to speak directly to me? Had he hacked in somehow? Or was this one of the features built into the software? He was still talking. You must also hand your army over to me.
Hurriedly I scrambled to my feet.
Come and get them, I said, though I wasn’t sure if I could talk back to him or not.
I nodded to Driscoll, who grinned again and started pumping his hands in furious signals. I glanced behind us and saw our shadows arraying themselves in formed ranks. A flicker of fear stabbed through me. We were about to do battle.
“What do you think happens if one shadow army kills another?” I asked Roman.
“I think we’re about to find out,” he said, drawing a hidden weapon from his clothing.
I booted the Tactical Interface and drew out a nettlegun.
“I wonder how we start this,” Roman said, bracing himself, gun up, at my side.
Begin, I ordered my shadow army. “Like that.”
A guttural roar went up from our shadows and the echo came back from the hill beyond. The sky split open and golden light pierced the valley through the swirling snow. My breath puffed into the cold, as ethereal as my army and my hopes.
Our wave of shadows extended across the fields as long as the row of headless statues – a kilometer wide and half a kilometer deep. They flowed as they ran, like a black viscous fluid pooling on the ground and rippling towards its destination. Nigel’s army was the same, and without the color coding on my implant I would be unable to distinguish between the two. One very salient difference, though, was that his army was twice as deep as my own.
When neither army has feet to make a sound as they run, it hardly feels real, but the second they struck felt very real. Bursting along the edge of their combat and stabbing into the air above a series of purple stalactites and chartreuse fungi shot into being. It was a nightmare at noon.
“Come on,” I said, following our army down the slope.
They outdistanced us quickly, but it felt wrong to send them to fight and die without us. I wasn’t that kind of Matsumoto. We followed after them, slogging through the drifted snow.
Incoming call from Admiral Tagawa. Will you accept this call? my implant chirped.
“I’m getting a call from Tagawa,” I said to Roman. We were both leaning forward to push into the wind.
Accept the call.
“Vera Matsumoto, this is Admiral Tagawa.”
“Admiral Tagawa. Not a good time for a social call.”
“Good, because this isn’t one,” she said, her voice rigid.
My implant was throwing up red carets behind us. I snapped my fingers briskly to get Roman’s attention and pointed back in that direction.
“We’ve been engaged in a space battle for the last two hours with The People’s Freehold. So far our losses have been mostly equivalent, but our damage is heavy and they have other fleets they can bring here. Their Admiral Abaku claims he has the authority to negotiate a cease fire, but the Emperor has ordered me to destroy him. I chose to call you.”
“Good call.”
“I have him waiting on a different channel. I could patch him through to you, audio only. Be careful, the signal is weak and hard to bounce down to the planet.”
Behind me I heard nettles cough from Roman’s gun, but I was too focused on what was happening. His hand shoved me down and I huddled in a crouch as he flew by in a flurry of nettles and long black coat.
“Ambassador Matsumoto, I am Admiral Abaku of The People’s Freehold. I hold the power to negotiate with foreign powers and I call upon you to begin a negotiation with me.”
It was boilerplate protocol for The People’s Freehold.
“I am aware of that Admiral Abaku. Begin your negotiation.”
A shadow went flying by and Roman’s voice sounded out.
“Unless that’s really important you need to help me. We’re getting overrun here!”
I held up one finger in the universal language of ‘give me a minute.’ This call was too important to interrupt. I didn’t dare prevent the only negotiation that could save our people. He scooped me up, slinging me over his shoulder and ran as his free hand spat nettles in every direction. His gait was run-slip, run-slip as his prosthetic still struggled with the icy surface.
“We wish a cease fire. At this point our only request is that the Emperor cease and desist from the practice of injecting our citizens against their will. We have found evidence that his spies have been infiltrating us by these techniques and as you doubtless know that is why we are here. We demand that he cease and desist and make appropriate reparations.”
“We agree to the terms of your cease fire,” I said.
“So easily? Do you really speak for the Emperor?”
“I am not this Emperor’s Voice anymore, but soon I will speak for us all.”
“Please choose less opaque terms.”
“I plan to be Emperor before the day is over. As the future Empress I agree to your terms and will negotiate reparations in return for your withdrawal to neutral territory.”
I gasped as Roman heaved me off his shoulder and threw me to the ground. He knelt over me, shooting madly.
“While that is all we could have hoped for, we cannot possibly believe it to be true. We will require evidence of your authority within twelve hours. Until that time we will hold our position. If our demands are not met we will resume hostilities.”
“And if they are met?”
We were completely surrounded by shadows. I couldn’t even see the swirling snow anymore.
“We will honor this negotiation and withdraw immediately.”
“Consider it done,” I said.
“On your honor be it,” he agreed and the channel reverted back to Admiral Tagawa.
Around me green fungi and purple stalagmites bloomed. Reinforcements were here.
“Admiral,” I said, “A cease fire is in place for the next twelve hours. After that, if I can provide proof of my authority they will withdraw from our system.”
“Can you really do that?” she asked, the hope almost palpable in her voice.
Roman pulled me up by the hand and led me at a run towards the bulk of the green carets. We slipped and slid over the snow, careening together like two tethered balls flung in the same direction. Our own forces were keeping the enemy off my back, but with a smaller army it was only a matter of time before something had to decide this battle.
“Let’s hope so,” I said to Tagawa. “Matsumoto out.”
Chapter Forty
/> Driscoll emerged from the fray.
There’s too many of them! he said. Even as a half-transparent ghost his eyes were all fire.
How long do we have until they over run us? I asked.
Minutes.
“Vera,” Roman said, flinging a shadow back by its neck and then chopping another one with the flat of his hand and spinning into a roundhouse kick, “this might not be a great time to mention it, but I think the Emperor is moving this way.”
“What makes you think that?” I asked, booting the mirror program so that my actions matched his exactly and let him direct our concerted efforts. Side by side we flung, kicked and smashed shadows like twin tornadoes.
“Because I see flickers of human ahead. I think there are others with him.”
I lost hold of myself, found myself in Roman’s head for the space of three blows, and then I was back in my own head, spinning with vertigo and relying solely on the program to get me through.
“I think I’m starting to get the hang of this head swap business,” Roman said, dodging a blow. “I’m almost better at being you than you are.”
“Just wait until later,” I said, “and I’ll show you what I’m better at.”
He paused a moment to grin at me, and then spun back into the fray with twice the effort.
Operation Overthrow is now ready to activate, my implant chirped.
Activate! Activate! I ordered.
Unable to activate at this time. Recalibrating...
What good was technology when it always let you down right when you needed it? All this operation overthrow nonsense and now that we were right in the thick of battle it needed to recalibrate. It was so predictable – and yet I felt betrayed.
“On your left,” Roman yelled, and I shook out of it, killing the mirror program and spun towards my attackers.
They fell back away from me and I followed the bulge into the enemy ranks more by instinct than anything else. By the grid on my Tactical Overlay Roman was right behind me and Driscoll and Kitsano were right behind him. As soon as we had pushed fully into the bulge the sides pushed in on us, almost flexing as they narrowed. We were separated quickly from the bulk of our army and edged in together, back to back, to hold them off.
“I need to get to the Emperor to negotiate with him. You were right. I was born for pacifism and negotiation, and this is my chance to finally use those things,” I said, as I fended off shadows. It wasn’t really fighting to fight souls that were already half-departed, was it?
Roman brought a quick series of attacks to his opponents and we followed him as he pressed through the ranks of shadows, leaving enemies in inky bursts as he went. He reached for my hand and pulled me towards him and then shoved me up as I scrambled up chunks of rocks with him at my side.
We were at the central statue, crouching beneath Neal Matsumoto in all his bronze glory. The idiot who started this mess. I wanted to scrawl my opinion on him in red paint.
“Do what you need to do, Vera,” Roman said. “I’ve got your back.”
The statue was on a small rise made of rough-cut black rocks the size of a man. It was on this tiny hill, our backs to the statue, that we clung, kicking any ascending shadows back down as they tried to rise up.
I sensed something I couldn’t identify and spun around. On the other side of the bronze statue Nigel stood, so calm that his coat was unbuttoned and it unfurled behind him like a pirate’s flag of old. It was just as black and just as troubling. Beside him, straight and spry despite the crippling cold was Ayumi, holding the hand of a blue-lipped Ryu.
I gasped. It was going to be almost impossible to negotiate with him now.
Kneel.
I barely resisted Nigel’s order. Behind me a knot of shadows crested the rocks and engaged Roman in battle, but my eyes were focused on the Emperor. Roman fought in a flurry of violence, flinging shadows over the rocky hill and into the fray below.
“Your troops are close to spent. They were never a match for mine,” Nigel said, raising his voice over the wind and battle.
Roman cried out in pain beside me and I spun. He was on the ground, his prosthetic snapped in two, the end sharp and jagged. Driscoll had climbed up behind us and hovered over him. It was not the leg that Roman was staring at, though, but the small boy in the hands of our enemies.
“And I have the power to even command you, if I need to,” he said, with a cool smile.
I felt something tug within my mind. It was slight enough that I could resist, but I sensed that it could be firmer. After all, I had eaten that VX-7 on Rhinric’s back, hadn’t I? I had nearly forgotten about that.
“I think it is time for you to come to me and receive your due, cousin.”
“Your hold on me is nothing,” I said. “I’ve resisted more and fought worse odds. I know what you did to our family. You killed each of them one by one, just like Neal Matsumoto killed the McIvers in this very spot. I’m not here to cut your head off, Nigel. I’m no Neal Matsumoto. I’m here to negotiate a peace with you.”
I glanced behind me. Dark clouds had filled the sky and the light was fading. Everything in the Killing Fields had faded into barely discernible shades of charcoal. The field was littered with pillars, both theirs and ours, but it was clear by the Tactical Overlay’s color coding that we were losing badly. We truly had moments left in this fight.
“That’s rich,” Nigel said, humor ringing in his voice. “Only the victor sets the terms. You should know that. Come to me, and I’ll give you the boy. But we won’t negotiate beyond that. The only thing I seek here is your death. I’m not a negotiator, Vera, taking a little here and giving a little there. I play to win everything, and that means you bow before me, helpless. You may beg, but it will do you no good.”
There comes a time when every journey must end. I realized, with a chill that was icier than the snow swirling around me, that the time was now.
I looked to Roman. Tears filled his eyes and worry filled his emotions. Maybe I could give him one good thing. I grasped his hand for a bare moment, and then slipped out of his grip. His fingertips grasped at me, but I was already walking. Ayumi gave Ryu a nudge and the two of them walked towards me.
Ayumi. The traitor. I had never suspected. There had been no signs...except...he’d told me the emperor had agents everywhere. It was practically the first thing he said to me. And he’d said ‘agents’ not ‘spies.’ I should have realized from the beginning...
You can’t sacrifice yourself. It’s not right... Roman said, and all the tears he wasn’t shedding on the outside flowed around his words, along with his fading hopes about smiling breakfasts and drinking coffee in the sun with me.
I know when I’ve been beaten. It was always a gamble. I just thought I had the hand to win, or at least convince him to talk. You’ve always made me feel more sure of myself – more hopeful - when I was with you than I was on my own. I love you. I will until my last thought, my last breath.
This is ridiculous. He sounded angry, but I knew it wasn’t at me. Fate had never been my friend. Nor had luck for that matter. Maybe I should have made more of an effort to get them on my side.
As Ayumi and Ryu passed me I ruffled the boy’s hair gently, trying not to see the sadness in his purple-ringed eyes. Whatever he had suffered from our enemies, Roman would repay.
Ryu is my last gift to you. The best I can do, I said, choking slightly on the sentiment. I wanted more. I wanted sweet kisses at dawn and leaning my cheek on his chest and just being safe together. I was starting to realize that there is only one Matsumoto who gets what he wants. All the rest of us were delusional to think we had any control over our fates.
Thank you. For everything. I hoped it didn’t hurt Roman too badly when the screech of my implant going off-line filled his head.
I was ten steps from the Emperor when I heard Roman yell, “You swore on your life!”
I didn’t care what he did to Ayumi. He’d probably crack the old man like the leg of a squab at dinner even wit
h a broken prosthetic. Caring about the fate of traitors was for the living. I didn’t have much living left.
I was right in front of Nigel. Eye to eye. Had he always been this short? He had seemed to loom the last time I saw him.
“I won’t lie to you by saying it will be painless,” Nigel said, narrowing his eyes. “Painless has never been my style.”
“I won’t lie to you by pretending I care about your style,” I said, making a show of looking him up and down.
My implant showed the green carets of Roman and Ryu. Beside them, Driscoll’s caret and Ayumi’s intermingled. It seemed my father had as little forgiveness for traitors as my husband did. I risked a glance backward. Ayumi fought with the flowing grace of a skilled martial arts master. Driscoll’s counters were heavy-handed in comparison, but his fury showed in the effectiveness of his blows.
“Good,” Nigel said, lifting up his right hand to show me his palm. Within was a torshocker. I’d seen them before on the list of banned items for the Blackwatch Empire. They were fantastic for torturing your enemies up close with the shake of your hand. They were also untraceable and even modern medicine made it hard to determine the eventual cause of death. I say eventual, because they were specifically designed to ensure death didn’t happen quickly. Despite my earlier words, I had to admit that this really did fit Nigel’s style. “Give me your hand, cousin, and I promise to let your pet and his child go free. I’ll even let your little shadow army surrender.”
I had wanted a peaceful negotiation all along. I’d hoped for more, but maybe this was the best I could have expected.
It took all the courage I could muster to raise my hand and reach for his. Every last bit of tenacity I had gained overcoming trial after trial was used up in that moment to embrace my own pain and death for the sake of those I loved. This, then, was true pacifism. It was letting yourself die for peace. Die for love.
In the back of my head Roman was screaming – for me this time, I knew – and I felt his effort as he scrambled on the mangled prosthetic to get to me.
The Matsumoto (The Matsumoto Trilogy Book 3) Page 25
