Children of the Pomme - Book 1

by Matthew Fish

  “Ahh yes,” William replied as he turned his attention to the strangely dressed girl. “She’s a transfer from the European division—she’ll be training Mark for a few days and you’ll all be on the same assignments for a time. Anyway, you must be Mark’s bodyguard…Emily Stapleton.”

  “That’d be me,” Emily answered proudly.

  “Bradley says you are quite gifted, I’m happy that Mark has someone with your talents looking out for him…” William continued as he looked down at her shirt. “Fuck…the police…okay. Well, welcome aboard.”

  “It doesn’t mean it…” Emily said with an awkward little laugh. “I’ll wear a different shirt next time.”

  “And you Mark…death…tosser…right,” William said as he noticed the jacket resting against the chair and let out a very audible sigh. “Welcome aboard as well.”

  “I didn’t do that,” Mark said as he winced.

  “Anyway,” William said in a flat tone as he gestured towards Bradley and Emily. “You two…we have some things to go over I believe regarding information regarding the Zampa case, so in the office if you will.”

  “Should I…wait here?” Mark asked.

  “No, son, you have some training to do. Head down the hall, count about four doors down and on your right you’ll see a door labeled the ‘Symphony Room.’ You’ll meet your new instructor there—learn a lot...and quickly. Bradley has signed you all onto a lead we have breaking in three days.”

  “Finally some action…!” Emily said with a little too much excitement in her voice. “I’m going to burn some fuckers.”

  “Let’s save that energy for when something actually happens,” Bradley said as he placed an arm around Emily and escorted her into the office. It was clear that he was attempting to do some kind of damage control…unsuccessfully it seemed judging by Captain Dickson’s face. “Mark, good luck with training—listen to her, she’s gone through the whole training thing. You’ll do fine.”

  “Thanks,” Mark said as he nodded once as the door shut before him.

  Chapter 4

  I don’t know why I felt so nervous that day…meeting that other Conductor. Perhaps, it was just due to the fact that there was another Conductor— a fear that I’d be expected to do things…at least, more than Bradley just pushing me to train and experiment with his limited knowledge of what I was supposed to do. I think there was still a lingering fear that I could not do what was expected of me. That nagging sense of doubt that I was still an unremarkable person with no real talent, I looked down to my long coat that read ‘Death Tosser’ and simply shook my head. I found the windowless metal door marked the ‘Symphony Room,’ figured it must have been some kind of not really funny joke about Conductors. I knocked a few times, no one answered. Eventually, despite my apprehension, I pulled down the lever and walked in. As I entered a large room with bright wooden floors and mirrored walls it reminded me of what I saw of ballet studios on television. Classical music played over a series of speakers in the corners of the room. A brick wall at the very edge of the long room was covered in the same paper targets that Bradley had set up for me in his basement…at least that was familiar. I was very well acquainted with missing those. I worried about how a stray coin would turn the pretty mirrors in here into a bit of a wreck.

  Towards the end of the room a young girl dressed in all white was concentrating on a group of coins that hovered in the air above her. She had shoulder length, medium curly blond hair. From what I could make out her long coat was made of a soft white fabric with silver accents…much understated simple flower designs, nothing ridiculous like my ‘Death Tosser’ jacket. She was wearing white matching jeans. A series of loud banging noises filled the air as a group of the coins few into different targets placed upon the wall.

  “Wow,” Mark said aloud, mostly reactionary.

  The remaining coins fell to the ground as the girl turned and approached me. She had bright emerald green eyes, small, dour looking lips and a thin graceful nose. She pulled away a few playful wisps of blonde locks as she gazed her towards the stranger in the room.

  “This room is off limits,” the girl said sternly as she pointed to the door. “My privacy, if you please.”

  “No,” Mark objected, “I didn’t mean to interrupt—but I’m supposed to be here. My name is Mark…Mark Argent. I’m the new Conductor.

  “American…?”

  “Yeah, local, “Mark spoke with a single nod.

  “Good to meet you,” the girl spoke as she bowed. “My name is Madeline Willbell, born in Montana but trained and working out of Aviano Air Base in Italy.”

  “They have Conductors at military bases?”

  “Of course,” Madeline replied as she looked at the long coat in my hand. “We are needed in all aspects of government functions and facilities…death tosser.”

  “I didn’t do this,” Mark said as he shook his head once more over the incident. “I have…I guess…a bodyguard and she decided to go all crafty on my jacket.”

  “A little flair isn’t a bad thing,” Madeline said with a short laugh as she brought up her right hand and allowed a single silver rose to glint beneath the fluorescent light of the room. “I’ve got my own symbol—a lot of Conductors have a symbol. They just don’t let their bodyguards go so overboard with them.”

  “Yeah,” Mark said as he embarrassingly brought up one of the sleeves of his long coat. “I have gold and silver flames…not sure how I feel about it really. Anyway, Madeline, I’m new—where do I start.”

  “Please, call me Maddie.”

  “Okay, Maddie, I’m just going to be all out completely honest here. I have no idea what I’m doing, I just found out I was a conductor about…five days ago—I already have two gifted Perpetuals out hunting for me—well, one of them is gifted, the other is a trained assassin. I think that still counts though. My father was a conductor…”

  “I heard about that,” Maddie said softly. “I am sorry to hear about that. It must be hard to lose a father.”

  “Only one I had, actually,” Mark said with a short-lived laugh. “Yeah, so I think in three days…I guess counting today that will be this Friday—but we’re doing our first assignment. So, I need to be ready.”

  “Yes, I’m up to speed on the assignment,” Maddie said as she nodded. “So you’re only getting about a week’s worth of training?”

  “Seems that way,” Mark said as he looked around nervously “I mean yeah, Bradley kind of taught me in a way for a few days and then I’ll be spending three days with you…seems short.”

  “It is,” Maddie said as her eyes narrowed and she cocked her head to the side, “Why the rush?”

  “I thought it was because this area needed it, but then you are here, so…I don’t know,” Mark said as he shrugged and threw his hands up. “Maybe Bradley wants things to be the way they used to be and I’m like…his new partner. Are Conductors that hard to find?”

  “They can be,” Maddie said as she gazed up to the ceiling and tapped a finger against her chin. “I mean American ones are kinda selfish—they tend to follow the money when it comes to their services—not that working for the Perpetual side of police departments pays peanuts or anything, it’s just that there’s much more money to be made in the private sector. A lot of us are born into the job; my father was a Conductor, just like his father was before him. There’s always the occasional Conductor born from ordinary parents…some people are Conductors and they go there whole lives without even knowing.”

  “It’s different in Europe?”

  “Yeah,” Maddie answered. “We work more in groups, we still get paid well for the risk and the services, but we do it more for the honor of doing it. American Conductors for the most part are more lone wolf types.”

  “So how long did you train for?”

  “I started my training when I was thirteen, under the guidance of my father,” Maddie replied as she placed a finger upon a black sash that lay beneath her white overcoat. “I proved to have a
talent and attended a private girl’s school for Conducteurs until I was eighteen and spent the past two years in service—until I accepted a transfer back stateside.”

  “So that’s….” Mark began to count up the years in his head; it was beginning to feel rather troubling. “Five years before you actually had to go out and…kill a Perpetual who went down the wrong path.”

  “Yes,” Maddie said shortly as she pulled her jacket off exposing the bare skin of her well toned arms and a black tank-top beneath. “So that’s why we must begin immediately.”

  “I’d say so,” Mark said as he noticed a large red scar on Maddie’s left shoulder.

  “About that,” Maddie said softly as she covered up the patch of skin with one of her hands. She noticed Mark looking at the old wound. “I came into contact with a particularly nasty fire Elemental.”

  “I’m sorry,” Mark said as he felt like a terrible person for staring. He thought it would be for the best if he failed at that moment to mention that his bodyguard was an Elemental. “I’m sure I’ll get my fair share of bumps and bruises…especially given my lack of training.”

  “So where exactly are you now regarding your training?”

  “I can finally put a coin into a target,” Mark answered, neglecting to mention the colossal amount of failures that had led up to that success.

  “So just one coin so far,” Maddie said as she looked a bit nervous.

  “Yeah,” Mark conceded. “I’m really fast at pulling the right years from the holders in my belt.”

  “Well, that’s a plus,” Maddie said as she tugged on a sash filled with pockets. “I have the Heart Sash design—it’s a lot like the Standard, or the belt as you put it. They both work the same way.”

  “Yours just looks a lot nicer,” Mark said as he noted the subtle way the ‘Heart Sash’ covered up part of the chest and hugged her frame as it worked her way to the back. There were no silver canisters—just lots of hidden pockets.

  “Well it’s just a style,” Maddie said as she pulled out a handful of coins. “It’s all about what you’re comfortable with. Since you’ve started with the Standard it’s probably best to keep it that way since it’s what you’re already familiar with.”

  “Yeah…great,” Mark said as he awkwardly put on the belt, remembering to attach both the little front and back latches. If there was an alternative he would have loved to known about it earlier. “Well, I’m all…set.”

  “Let’s see you do you one coin.”

  “Alright,” Mark said as he eyed one of the paper targets on the far wall and placed a hand near his belt like one of those old western gunfighters.

  “1991,” Maddie spoke as she took a step back to watch Mark’s form.

  I felt a bit nervous doing that first coin toss for Maddie. I do not know exactly if it was because she was pretty (she was rather pretty) or if it was her vast experience and the disparity of mine. I quickly released the coin and as it touched my hand I initiated the process of causing it to vibrate rapidly. I tossed it up into the air and fixed my eyes on the target—I closed them as I visualized the coin striking the target on the far left. As my mind released it, my arm gestured towards the target in a swift sweeping motion. With a single pop, the coin was on its way.

  “Not bad,” Maddie said as she nodded. She then approached Mark and placed her hand against his back and pushed in.

  Mark felt a strange feeling, something akin to a shock of static electricity as her hand followed down the spine of his back and the gentle push for him to stiffen up his stance. He chalked up the odd feeling to not really being around an attractive girl in a while—at least one that did not originally attempt to abduct him.

  “You need to straighten your back more,” Maddie said as she started to pose Mark as though he was some form of malleable statue. She moved his left foot forward. “Always step in with your left…your gesturing is surprisingly spot on. Well, for a single coin. Why do you close your eyes?”

  “I…I guess, it’s to help me concentrate.”

  “You shouldn’t need to concentrate,” Maddie added as she stood beside Mark and held up the handful of coins she had produced earlier. “Just feel the weight…start the process, and then let your mind and body become one instrument….” Maddie added before she allowed the coins to bounce from the palm of her hand and up into the air above her. She made sweeping, wide gestures as she sent each coin towards its target—sometimes she would swing her right arm upward, following quickly with a downward flow with her fingers outstretched widely. As three coins remained in the air she twirled on her right foot and sent them all flying into the center target. There was a graceful beauty in the way that she moved. She made the act of being a Conductor seem so effortless and beautiful. All the while she acted, she kept her eyes fixed upon the wall…she did not shut them nor look at the coins above her. “You need to tune everything out of your mind and just do the act.”

  “I don’t think I’ll reach that level in such a short time…”

  “You don’t have the luxury of not reaching that level,” Maddie said as she gestured toward the wall. “Pull 1990, 1987, 1985, 1977, 1976, and 1962.”

  Mark worked his belt as quickly as he could, nearly fumbling over the pressure. Once he collected all the coins into his palm he worked them up and sent them into the air. He felt the presence of each coin—in his mind he could feel the weight of the metal. He was aware of each year. As he was just about to send the first coin into the wall with a gesture from his hand a loud bang echoed from behind him sending all the coins crashing down to the floor.

  “What the shit?” Mark said as his ears boomed and he turned around to see that Maddie had discharged a gun into the ceiling.

  “You can’t let anything else in,” Maddie said as she shook her head. “Remember, you tune everything out…you think you won’t be getting shot at, or under duress while you’re attempting to do your Conducting. You’re targets aren’t going to be so polite as to just stand in one place while you place coins inside of them.”

  “So I have to concentrate…”

  “Not concentrate,” Maddie said with a slightly annoyed tone in her voice. “You have to be aware of what’s going on—just like you have to feel the presence of the coins that you have in the air at any given time. You just have to tune everything else out and that includes gunshots…fear— all that stuff you said before that you were worried about. You have to forget about your life when you are in the moment, forget that you are being hunted. When there are coins in the air, that’s all that matters. You tune everything else out.”

  “Is it bad that I don’t know the difference,” Mark admitted. “I mean, concentrating and tuning everything out seems like the same thing.”

  “You’ll learn.” Maddie said as she placed her hands upon Mark’s back and got him back into proper form. “Now let’s do that again.”

  Maddie was so very patient with me that day. Also she tried everything in her power to distract me from keeping those six coins in the air. At one point she threw a metal folding chair, another time she slipped my foot out beneath me and caused me to fall to the ground. I knew that she had only the best intentions but fuck all if it didn’t feel a little bit like she was picking on me. However, I knew that the Perpetuals I would eventually face would treat me much worse, given the chance to do so. We took a break for lunch, which was brought in the room—just a few sandwiches and a couple of bags of potato chips with bottled water, not exactly fancy fare. As we took a break we talked about the farm that she grew up on…a large plot of land with the Rocky Mountains off in the distance, great canyons nearby and horses. She loved the horses. She spoke about how her family would often hunt in the woods nearby her house and how she became quite skilled with a bow—something that she felt made her even better at conducting. At around four that day I finally got all six coins into the wall—not the targets exactly…but into the wall. This was accomplished while three gunshots were going off behind me, so I considered
it a success. We briefly went over how each gesture had a meaning—how the initial wave of the arm outward was to establish a line…a target for others to follow. An upward swing or downward swing was to adjust the aim accordingly. A flip of the fingers to the right or the left would alter the course. Fingers fully stretched would cause the coins to shotgun outward while keeping the fingers more close would cause a more accurate toss. It was a lot to take in. At the end of our session around six or so, Maddie said that I had made quite a lot of progress…especially for being a newbie. It was a hopeful statement. I mean that as in, I guess…for the first time I really felt like I could do this.

  As Captain Dickson met me outside of the room he was pleased to hear Maddie’s report.

  “So you’re following in your father’s footsteps very well,” Captain Dickson said as he patted Mark on the back. “I do believe that he’d be very proud of you.”

  “Thanks,” Mark replied as he waved goodbye to Maddie and allowed himself to be led down the hall by the Captain. “So how does it work—do I just sit around at a desk here and wait for something to happen and we go out in police cars? How does this operation on Friday work?”

  “Nothing like any of that,” The Captain replied as he let out a laugh. “Forget everything you know about police…or what you’ve seen on television. You wait at home and go to where you are needed. You do not interact with any normal police officers—you do not speak to any media…not that they will ever be present, all that’s taken care of ahead of in advance. You’ll go in unmarked cars and treat every interaction with a Perpetual like it’s a secret. Because, well, it is…you will never get recognition or fame for what you do. Hell, you could save the Chicago from a Perpetual who has gotten a hold of a nuclear bomb and you’ll never be a hero. You’ll get a pat on the back from me though—and a paycheck.”

  “I never really liked all that much attention and always wanted to work from home anyway…”