“Know what, Mei? You’re not going to tell me it’s you he’s interested in. . .”
“No, no, Teacher.”
“Mei!” Mao shouted.
“It’s been going on for some time now,” Mei said, her tone mocking and superior.
“What has?” Hol was losing her patience.
Mao moved over to Mei and started to shake her a little. “Mei, you can’t do this.”
Mei’s face twisted with disgust as she looked down at her little half-sister and struck her, sending her spinning to the ground.
“Mao!” Mai cried.
Mai and Amia dropped to Mao’s side. The girl lay there, senseless and unmoving.
Jav looked at Mei with eyes she had never seen before, and she was genuinely afraid of him for the first time. But this was her moment, and more than she feared Jav, she craved to see their teacher’s anger let loose.
Hol looked expressionlessly from Mao to Mei, simply waiting for the latter to continue.
Mei licked her lips and fought back the shivers of her fear. “Before he joined you in your bed, Teacher, he shared Mai’s. Maybe he still does.”
Mai looked at Mei, eyes wide with disbelief.
Hol now glanced from Jav to Mai, her face curling into a scowl almost involuntarily, like a wolf baring its fangs. “Is this true?” she asked, her voice shaking with contained rage. When no answer came quickly enough, she shouted, “Is this true?”
Jav stepped between Mai and Hol and answered, “Yes, Teacher.”
Hol pushed past Jav and approached Mai. “Stand up!” she shouted.
Mai stood unsteadily, both hands clasped at her breast and fear plain on her face.
Hol glared at Jav. “You chose her over me?” She was incredulous. Then to Mai, she said, “How many times did I tell you—all of you?” She slapped Mai hard. “Answer me!”
“Teacher!” Jav tried to restrain her and couldn’t.
Hol slapped Mai again, this time harder. Tears seeped endlessly through Mai’s sobs.
“I tried to teach you with words.” Hol shook her head and raised her hand to strike Mai again, but Jav caught her wrist. She looked at him with fiery eyes, and Jav saw the indistinct shape of the furiously working Charging Fork upon her brow for an instant before feeling searing pain in his chest. The sky opened up for him then, and the stars moved slowly from their roosts.
Jav landed with a muted thud far outside the villa’s walls, and Hol slapped Mai a third time.
“Teacher, please don’t,” the girl whimpered.
“Who do you think you are? Whose house do you think this is?” Composing herself somewhat, Hol now sounded deadly calm. “I’ll give you a chance, Mai. Think of it as a test. Defend yourself. If you survive, you’re forgiven.”
“Teacher?” Mai looked at her, shocked and horrified.
“You heard me. Defend yourself.”
Hol gave up her slaps, assumed a formal fighting stance, and proceeded to beat Mai, methodically, mechanically. At first, Mai attempted to defend herself with the Eighteen Heavenly Claws, but Hol was so far beyond her in strength and skill, that it made little difference. Mai didn’t know if Hol was using the Charging Fork or not, but she couldn’t reduce her teacher’s AI strikes fast enough to prevent them from getting through. Regardless, Hol far outclassed Mai on the gravity block, so even if she could reduce the strikes, Hol’s physical strength alone would have sufficiently broken any defense Mai could put forth.
It wasn’t really a test since Mai had no chance at all against her teacher. She was hurt badly, bleeding internally from multiple injuries, and she couldn’t help but abandon the Eighteen Heavenly Claws in her panic and desperation. She flailed her arms helplessly at Hol, trying to back away to safety while sobbing uncontrollably.
Hol snorted contemptuously. The test was over. She struck Mai one final time, the palm of her hand smacking sharply and reverberantly against the girl’s forehead.
At the very instant of impact, before Mai’s eyes rolled up white into her head, a jolt shot through everything everywhere. It was like an earthquake, but it wasn’t limited to the ground. It shook the land, the air, and the sea of every planet. It shook the stars in all the galaxies. It shook the mind of every sentient being, both living and dead. Though few knew why the quake occurred, everyone knew that it had occurred. And there was evidence left behind to mark it. Spread out now from Planet 1287 was a fresh crop of new and reopened twisting, morphing, and violently growing wormholes.
Hol looked up at the now alien sky above Planet 1287. They seemed to be everywhere, holes shot through space as if reality itself were being eaten away by some unseen, unknown rot. Her lower lip still quivering with unspent rage, she looked down at Mai.
Jav had jumped over the wall and was running towards the fallen girl, shouting out her name. He skidded to his knees before her and cradled her head in his hands.
Mei was staring, dumbstruck by what she had caused. She was roused slightly by Jav’s guttural address. He was moving towards her.
“This is your fault.” His voice was cold and murderous. “I put up with all the punishment, all of the petty, small-minded, and selfish malice in all the things you said and the things you did, but in the end, it’s not enough.”
Mei shook her head. It wasn’t Mai I wanted dead. It was you, Jav, don’t you see? was what she envisioned saying, thinking that it would surely placate him, but not a single word squeezed through her fear. She had never seen Jav like this and thought that she was about to join her dead sister.
Hol stepped in front of Jav. “This is Mei’s fault? Exactly what is her fault? You and Mai were carrying on behind my back. I’d say that puts you two at fault. You and this dead piece of trash.”
Jav’s anger peaked and his knuckles shone white upon his uselessly clenching fists.
“I did that,” Hol said. “And you did that. No one else.”
Jav struggled to check his anger. He didn’t know what to think or how to feel. Laedra Hol, his teacher for the last five years, the person he respected above all others, had indeed killed Mai. But Mai’s death was really an indirect result of Mei’s spite. Mei had set everything into motion, and though Hol was directly responsible, Jav found that for some inexplicable reason he could not blame her. He did not like Hol just then, but nor could he forget his debt to her and how, except for the last ten weeks, she had been his model in all things, not the least of which was moral character.
“What’s the matter Jav? Lose your nerve? You can’t love me but you can’t hate me, either, is that it? Are you afraid of me, Jav? Because you should be. I’ve never been betrayed like this before, and right now I’m only half satisfied.”
“I’m not afraid of you, and I didn’t betray you. Mai. . . we fell in love a long time ago. We both ignored it until we couldn’t anymore. Is it betrayal to fall in love when the only thing we hurt is a rule even its own maker can’t abide by?”
Hol’s cheeks flashed scarlet with renewed anger. “I waited so long for you.”
“What are you talking about?” Jav shook his head, completely flummoxed by her declaration.
“It doesn’t matter,” she shouted sharply, almost cutting him off. “I’ll give you the same opportunity I gave Mai. Defend yourself.”
“Opportunity? You call what you gave Mai an opportunity?”
“Shut up!” She lunged for him, claws outstretched and tearing. Jav blocked and dodged, but he did not fight back.
Hol pursued relentlessly, and Jav saw the humming Charging Fork grow more and more distinct. He wondered if she even realized she was using it.
With her speed and power both backed by the Charging Fork, Jav had to work ever harder to come away with dwindling results. He used the displacement technique frequently now, would have been killed several times without it, but his teacher was beginning to grin a skull’s grin that worried him.
A claw darted straight for his throat, and as the displacement initiated, Jav felt something strange, somethi
ng completely unknown. Everything seemed to stop and he had a sudden recollection of his first wholly successful performance of Dragon Dances on Raindrops. The world around them had stopped. Jav felt his body move in small, almost imperceptible increments through space and then he felt immeasurable pressure before him. Hol was pursuing him through his displacement and her clutching fingers proved faster or at least superior. Everything was suddenly back to normal. She had plucked Jav right out of his escape with her superior AI, and he hung suspended by the throat at the end of her carved marble arm.
With a satisfied smirk, she stared down the length of her arm into his reddening face. His breath was slowly being squeezed off, and he felt his own heartbeat build to bass thunder in his head, but he would not let it out, would not let it be free.
“Go on, Jav,” Hol taunted. “Bring out the Ritual Mask. I know you broke the seal once. You can do it again, I’m sure.”
In the grip of her immovable fingers, he still tried to shake his head. It was a reflex that almost made him laugh. He gathered his wind and finally managed to speak. “The Ritual Mask. . . has no place here.”
Hol frowned in confusion and then realized that Jav was telling her what she had told him five years ago when he first arrived. It occurred to her also that he hadn’t fought back at all. Her face hardened. “So that you remember?”
Weakly, he raised his hands to her wrist in a vain attempt to loosen her hold on his throat. “I remember. . . everything you taught me. I didn’t choose to. . . fall in love. Nor. . . I imagine. . . did you.”
Being chastised once again for breaking her own rule—the very same offense for which she was administering lethal punishment—stabbed and twisted in her like a barbed hook of inexorable guilt, but instead of reversing her course, it fanned her anger.
Jav felt a surge of strength in her fingers and sputtered, “Give. . . my regards to the Emperor. Please tell him I’m. . . sorry I couldn’t make it.”
All the color poured from Hol’s face. She had almost killed Jav and if she had, Shade or not, her own life would have been forfeit. A hateful sneer distorted her features and strength pulsed through her fingers one last time before she flung Jav away disdainfully and turned her back on him.
Jav was massaging his throat even before he landed on his backside in the dirt. He choked and coughed for a moment then asked, “Why did you let me go?”
Hol’s eyes went wide in surprise. It couldn’t be true. She was sure Jav had invoked the Emperor to spare his own life—maybe even hers in the process—but his question was real, completely unaffected and genuine. Tears filled her eyes and streamed down her cheeks as thoughts, clear and true, began to assail her. This man was not Jav Corso, though he was without a doubt his equal. This man had been in love with an innocent woman who was little more than a girl and whom she had just killed mercilessly. From the beginning, this man had done everything asked or demanded of him, and he had respected his teacher more than his own life. She loved Jav Holson more now than she had ever thought it possible to love anyone, but she could not stand to look at him. Without turning, she tried to fight back her tears and said, “You have to leave, Jav.”
Jav nodded as he stood. He walked over to Mai and gathered her up in his arms, his vision blurring with unchecked tears. He held her close to him and started off.
Hol turned to see Jav walking away from her with Mai in his arms. She stifled the outrage that resulted from seeing them together like that and mastered herself. “Jav!”
He stopped. The sky was alive and raging with holes to everywhere and nowhere. Still and perfect silence filled the space between teacher and student. The other girls, breath frozen in their chests, were praying that the fighting wouldn’t begin again.
“You. . . You were a good student.”
Jav’s head tilted to one side while he considered her words and at length he replied sincerely and without a trace of sarcasm, “Thank you, Teacher.” And he walked away under the mottled and porous sky.
10687.291.1500
VEAD Emergency Notice
From: Silowan Haspel, Director, Astrophysics Division
RE: 2nd Onset of Spatial Anomalies
At 0947 Standard Time this morning, the whole of the Empire was subjected to an assault supernatural in character and disastrous in potential. While there can be little doubt that the mysterious shockwave which preceded the re-emergence of spatial anomalies, both old and new, was also the cause for said anomalies, we at the Astrophysics Division can offer no proof of causation, nor any explanation of or insight into the occurrence.
This new proliferation of spatial anomalies appears to be centered around and radiating out from System 257 and has left no portion of the Empire untouched. Currently, 217 people have been confirmed dead, either directly or indirectly as a result of the outbreak. (Please refer to the attached reports from the Infrastructure and Transit Divisions for detailed accounts of property damage and jump deck closures.) Over 1,000 anomalies have been reported so far, but even with all our data and experience with the previous lot, the particularly unstable nature of the anomalies this time is making accurate counts very difficult to establish. S-Bomb crews have been dispatched, but the resources of this division have been taxed and the months to come will offer no relief. We request your understanding and cooperation once again during this time of crisis. All petitions for S-Bomb detonation will be assessed as quickly as possible. If detonation is deemed necessary, crews will be scheduled and dispatched in order of degree of risk. If our tentative plans run smoothly, we hope to have the skies substantially cleared in time for the Artifact Competition.
The shockwave was successfully recorded and is being analyzed by Locsard Academy experts who have been able to confirm elements in common with known psychic phenomena, which, some posit, suggests the possibility of a directed, conscious attack on the Viscain Empire. Hopefully, more information from an Academy panel will be forthcoming.
Once again, we at the Astrophysics Division are compelled to urge caution. While at risk over the last five years, the Empire has encountered no known alien threats. The positioning and rapid degradation of the anomalies made such threats increasingly unlikely. However, especially in light of the precipitating and not yet understood psychic phenomenon, we must consider the renewed possibility of sudden and hostile alien contact.
Updates to follow.
10687.296
With her head bowed, Hol knelt before a large holographic screen showing the sharp, fiery features of the Viscain Emperor. He scowled down at her with his wheezing breath soughing like a lonely wind.
“You came exceptionally close to disappointing me, Laedra Hol,” he said.
“Yes, Lord Emperor.”
“Who was she?”
“Mai Pardine. One of Tallo Pardine’s daughters.”
The Emperor sighed impatiently.
“She was his lover,” Hol added uncomfortably.
“Oh? Interesting.”
“Lord Emperor?”
“Some things would appear to be immutable. You know, of course, that in killing her you brought these new spatial anomalies upon us.”
Hol bowed her head lower, and her voice came weakly, “I suspected, Lord Emperor.”
“Bah!” the Emperor’s tone changed abruptly. “Even I failed to see what was concealed within that girl and she was right here all along. It doesn’t matter. I got the information I wanted on 1397. Mai Pardine was redundant. Do not let her death concern you. Tallo Pardine will be compensated for his loss, the Public Relations and Standards Division will handle image issues, and I have faith that the Astrophysics Division will ‘clear our skies’ as they say before too long. But you, Laedra Hol, you came very close to killing your protégé, did you not?”
“Yes, Lord Emperor,” she said, her voice still weak.
He seemed to squint for a moment and startled her by addressing her unspoken thought. “You left him in quite a state. Mr. Holson said nothing of course, but Mr. Kalkin’s of
ficial inquiries and insistence on sending him to the hospital made his condition difficult to ignore.”
“Is. . . is he okay?” Her voice was shot with sudden concern.
The Emperor chuckled and it came like a cough that caught on itself, keeping itself rolling, on and on. “He will live. He must live. If he doesn’t win the Kaiser Bones, I’ll be cheated out of my amusement. Will he win the Kaiser Bones, Laedra Hol?”
She ground her teeth. She didn’t know why giving her truthful answer and the answer the Emperor wanted to hear should bother her, but it did. There was no sense of impatience from the Emperor. In fact, she rather thought that he was enjoying her secret frustration and she finally said, “Yes, Lord Emperor, he will.”
10687.334
The Astrophysics Division was handling the new wormholes expeditiously and with finesse. This time the wormholes in general were more dynamic and far less stable. The length of the Vine had been secured but a number of troublesome anomalies remained.
In spite of being the source and the center of the wormholes, Planet 1287 had been largely unaffected and transportation to 1398 had been unimpeded. Jav arrived, was welcomed by Kalkin, and then instantly rushed off to the hospital. Jav didn’t explain what happened, he only told Kalkin that Hol released him to the care of the Plague Squad, which she later confirmed.
Jav moved into the rooms allotted to the Plague Squad in the Root Palace and spent his time over the next several weeks training incessantly and alone on an old gravity trainer. Often when the artificial sun shut down, he would wander to the outer rim of the encircling wall where the thin, chill wind of the dead planet passed through the fringes of the Palace’s protective influence. He would stare out at the leftover, barely-burning sun that would soon follow the planet in death and think about Mai. Sometimes he would weep, sometimes he would feel nothing, but the thought that he could not protect her was like a dull blade, broken off and lodged somewhere deep inside where he couldn’t reach. He would always return late from these trips, and anyone offering him the least bit of trouble would regret it—after first regaining consciousness.
The Artifact Competition (Approaching Infinity Book 1) Page 21
