by Stefon Mears
“I ... well...” Donal tried to think back over his impressive accomplishments in school, but had to admit that none of them compared to the spells he had pulled off when lives were on the line.
“I don’t know. I don’t see why what I’m learning out here wouldn’t translate to the lab.”
“What if I could offer you the opportunity to find out? Out here in the real world, not in the lab? What if I could offer you a chance to build your power the way the magicians of antiquity did it.”
Donal thought about that. His brother Bran had parlayed his experiences on the edge of space to successfully challenge for the title of Magister without spending a day in graduate school. What if Donal could be the first person even to successfully challenge for the title of Hierophant?
“What would I have to do?”
◊
Tunold turned from his comm pad back to his station. He knew he had gambled, not bringing Jacobs in on this, but Jacobs had to see that Tunold was ready to command a big ship. No matter who the passengers were and what problems they were having.
He glanced at the miniature phantasmal gryphon that floated above his workstation. The true keys to the ship. Tunold loved that little source of reports and direct connection to every system and department on the ship. Right now he only got access to it when the captain was off-duty, but soon enough Tunold would get the big chair and have access to the mini-gryphon as a regular part of his work day.
But he found difficulty taking joy in it just then, even when he touched the location of the main deck’s security office and gave his finger a little twist to open a communication link. Goldberg should have answered within seconds, but as those seconds stretched into a minute, Tunold felt his shoulders hunch and jaw clamp in irritation.
Finally the chief’s head appeared over the gryphon display. “Sorry, Ex Oh, my guests had to finish making a point before I could answer.”
Diplomatic words and a neutral expression. That meant that Kianoush and Romanov were right there, probably close to arm’s reach.
“Shall I presume that means they are insisting on their current course of action?”
“Aye, Sir, I’d say they sound quite eager for it.” The image of Goldberg’s jaw moved out to one side, tilting his head, and through the link Tunold could hear Goldberg’s neck crack.
The chief was preparing for a fight.
“All right, Chief. Tell them I’ll be right down to discuss this with them.” Tunold cut the link, then turned to the bridge crew. “All right, folks, this is why I agreed to let you stay on duty late, but when I get back you’ll all be relieved, so let your reliefs know now.” Tunold stood. “I have to go deal with a potential situation. Mr. Burke, mind the shop until I get back, and if there’s a problem, link me down in Goldberg’s Main Deck office, not his Security Deck office.”
Tunold did not wait for the acknowledgments he knew were coming. He trotted off through the door and down the sloping passage to try to stop a duel.
◊
Li Hua slid a little closer on the couch, her knee now scant centimeters from Donal’s thigh. Plenty of privacy there in the safe room of the Observation Deck, especially behind her wards.
Donal wondered where this conversation was going. Did she want him to skip school and come to work for 4M?
“All you’d have to do is focus on your strengths.” She patted Donal’s hand. “Not just conjuration, but deception. I’ve pulled off a few stunts with deception magic that you’ll be interested to investigate, when I point them out to you, but my specialties lie in the magic of movement and scrying.”
The look Li Hua gave Donal then was half-lust, half-power. Donal wasn’t sure if he should be turned on, or worried, and had to admit he was a little of both.
“I can’t wait to see how you improve on my work,” she said.
Li Hua slid closer, her one arm moving from on the back of the couch to around Donal’s shoulders.
“Together you and I will be unstoppable.”
Donal leaned in and kissed her and she met him with passion. When the kiss broke he said, “So when will I get to see these spells? Are they on Mars? Earth?”
“Oh, no, Donal,” she said with a flirty flip of her hair, moving the long sheet of straight black locks out of the way so she could lean in and kiss Donal’s neck. She whispered in his ear, “I’m talking about enchantments right here on the ship with us.”
◊
Tunold stepped into the security office on the Main Deck and noticed four things right away: Goldberg, seated, face neutral but hands gripping his desk like he wanted to break it in half; Kianoush, standing beside the desk, hands on his elbows and fingers drumming, dressed in slacks and a shirt that allowed a lot of freedom of movement; Romanov, standing across from Kianoush, hands folded over her stomach and thumbs circling each other in a patient pattern, also dressed in slacks and a shirt that allowed free movement; and no other members of the ship’s watch present.
That last part told Tunold that Goldberg had been trying very hard not to throw the weight of his rank around. Jacobs would appreciate that, but Tunold was not sure that he did. If Goldberg could have dismissed the matter by acting like a security chief instead of like a diplomat — work for which Tunold doubted Goldberg had been trained — Tunold might be having a quiet end-of-shift on the bridge.
“All right,” said Tunold. “What’s so important about this grievance that it couldn’t wait until morning?”
“The midnight hour approaches.” Romanov looked over at Tunold, infinite patience in her deep brown eyes. “A traditional hour for duels and assignations. Space has no dawn nor dusk. During the noon hour tomorrow we shall both be too busy to fight a duel.”
“It is in both of our interests,” said Kianoush, “to conclude the matter to both of our satisfactions before business resumes in the morning.”
“Whatever it is has waited this long,” said Tunold. “I say you let it wait until you reach Venus. Then you can kill each other in peace and I won’t have to deal with it.”
“Kill each other?” Kianoush bubbled a laugh that rose and fell, bringing with it, then taking with it, a smile on his face. “Certainly not.”
“Risk leaving my idiot brother in charge of the family name and business?” Romanov scoffed. “Never.”
“Chief,” said Tunold, “you want to grab these two some boxing gloves so we can settle this and get back to business?”
“Cretin!” said Romanov. “I refuse to brawl like some common thug.”
“I must agree,” said Kiaonoush, hands now at his sides. “We require our dueling swords from your ship’s safe so we may fight a proper duel to first blood.”
“You know what that means, Ex Oh,” said Goldberg.
And Tunold did know. Retrieving anything from the ship’s safe while at space could not be done without the captain.
◊
Donal felt little alarms go off in his head at the thought of Li Hua having deception spells somewhere on this ship for him to examine. But the silk of her yellow dress felt so soft, and the plush couch beneath them so very private.
He cleared his throat and said, “I’m having difficulty concentrating while you’re kissing my neck.”
Li Hua purred a soft, pleased sound that included hot breath tingling along Donal’s skin. But she pulled back, her eyes smiling into Donal’s.
Donal furrowed his brow, and brought his hands back to rest on his own knees. He decided it was in the best interests of his focus to keep his hands by his sides.
“Thank you” did not feel appropriate, but he needed to say something. “What deception spells do you have running? Are you hiding wards or something?”
“Nothing so prosaic.” She traced a finger along Donal’s jaw. “No, this is bigger than that. Bigger than anything we’ve ever talked about.”
Li Hua lay back against the couch, gesturing up with her hands as though taking in the entire universe.
“I’m talking about finishing the
work that Lloyd Bird started.”
Lloyd Bird returned magic to the world. What would...
And then Donal thought he understood, and immediately hoped he was wrong. Lloyd Bird brought the magic back. What if Li Hua meant to put the magicians in charge?
◊
Tunold felt a fleeting wish that the dozen or so empty seats in the Main Deck’s security office each held an officer of the watch. He might need them to keep these Kianoush and Romanov apart without getting hands-on.
He looked back at the two would-be duelists.
“Forget it,” said Tunold. “I’m not getting the captain out of bed so the two of you can try to kill each other while pretending you’re just trying to draw blood. We started this trip with twenty-one living passengers, and I intend to have twenty-one living passengers when we arrive on Venus.”
“I assure you, Mr. Tunold,” said Romanov with a sigh that clearly indicated that she thought she was dealing with a moron. “Neither Farbod nor I have any intention of trying to kill each other. It would be bad for business.”
“Just, please,” picked up Kianoush as though the two had rehearsed this, “get us our swords and let us settle this. We will not need more than five minutes to do so. You have my promise.”
“I know you won’t,” said Tunold, trying to restrain the growl he heard starting in his voice. “I know a few things about fights myself, and unless a crowd gets involved, they don’t need more than a few minutes to resolve themselves.”
Tunold shook his head, a heavy gesture that involved a lot of shoulder movement. “I also know that fighters can get carried away, and that even a duel to first blood can lead to a dead body on the deck.”
Tunold folded his arms, daring them to challenge him on this point. “I’m in charge while the captain is off-duty, and I say you want to duel? Fine. Mr. Goldberg, get them each a Pacifier.”
◊
Donal felt a chill slide down his spine, a drop of sweat trickle down from his temple. He had to clear his throat to speak, which seemed to amuse Li Hua. His voice sounded rough when he finally managed to form words.
“That’s why you’re telling me this behind wards. Why you asked me to put Fionn away.”
“Well, to be fair, I am planning to jump your bones once I’m sure we’re both reciting from the same ritual script.” She leaned closer as though to share a secret. “And I don’t think Fionn approves of me.”
“He thinks you’re bad for me.” Donal worked to keep the and-he’s-right tone out of his voice. “He thinks that when I spend time with you I’m more likely to find myself in dangerous situations I’m not ready to handle.”
“How does he expect you to learn to defend yourself unless you struggle under real duress.” Li Hua waved a hand absently. “But you’ve already proved my point several times over. You shine brightest after a little tumbling.”
Li Hua smirked at her choice of words, but Donal’s thoughts were elsewhere.
“What’s more,” she said, “you love the action as much as I do, even if you have trouble facing up to that little fact.”
“So.” Donal tried to keep his voice steady, but her raised eyebrow told him he had failed. “What do you see as the ultimate culmination of Lloyd Bird’s work? Because I don’t think you mean teaching.”
“I think you know exactly what I mean.” Li Hua tilted her head and regarded Donal past lowered lids. “You know as well as I do that before magic fell the first time, magicians stayed out of politics.” Her mouth formed a line, as though she found the thought distasteful. “And look what happened. Science rose, and without the ethics of magic to guide it, it led to strip mining, pollution, wholesale destruction.
“Mass gassings, the atomic bomb...” Li Hua leaned toward Donal, but this time the light in her eye was not sexual. “Science and technology damn near destroyed the whole human race. And what did it ever really do for us? We’ve come farther in sixty years with magic than we did in hundreds of years with technology.”
“Well, we didn’t exactly have the science equivalent of Lloyd Bird and his acolytes standing by to show us the way.”
“But don’t you see? That wouldn’t matter. Science was impersonal. It worked equally for everyone regardless of personal talent or philosophical development. Magic requires both.”
“True,” said Donal, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “But magicians can go bad too, regardless of their training. We haven’t had a modern powerful magician go bad yet, but it’s just a matter of time.”
“We’re getting away from the important point here, Donal” Li Hua’s face and posture were serious now. “Under the rule of technology we had leaders who could kill thousands, even millions without any direct personal involvement. Other people had to get their hands dirty, giving the leaders more mental room to excuse and justify their actions.
“And now we have magic, but we’ve continued down the same path, allowing men and women rise to positions of power and importance without the ability to handle either, without the training that magic provides.”
“You want magicians to hold public office?” Donal had to chuckle. Maybe he had read Li Hua wrong. “The idea has potential, but I don’t think that most people are ready to let one person wield both political power and thaumaturgic power.”
“Of course not.”
A small smile touched her lips, a smile Donal remembered from Mars, from a moment when she had been proud of the elegant way she had killed the men who had hunted them.
“And that is where the deception magic comes in.”
Chapter Seventeen
Tunold folded his arms and loomed over the seated Romanov and Kianoush as he waited for their response. Perhaps the silence of the late hour and lack of witnesses would work in his favor. Rich executives or not, with the Main Deck deserted and the security office devoid of anyone else except the chief, they had to feel a little intimidated by Tunold’s ursine presence.
They were only landlubbers, after all.
“Pacifiers?” said Romanov, her contempt making the word sound obscene. “Ridiculous.”
“I am willing,” said Kianoush, bringing a glare from Romanov, but a smile from Tunold. “In truth, the weapon itself matters little to me. I would prefer a proper duel with swords, but it seems the executive officer will not budge on the issue.”
Tunold only shook his head.
Romanov turned to appeal to Goldberg, but before she could speak, the chief said, “It’s his call, Ma’am.”
Tunold thought the woman looked even more irritated at the chief’s choice of titles.
“He’s right,” said Tunold, as much to draw her attention from the chief as to back his point. “I’m the ranking officer on deck and it’s my watch. You can try appealing to the captain in the morning, but a) he’s likely to agree with me, and b) he’ll tell you that crew and passenger matters are my jurisdiction unless he chooses to get involved. Which he won’t. Not over something like this.”
Goldberg nodded his head in support. Kianoush said, “If you must have swords, I know only one more person to whom we could appeal. But I do not relish asking him to intervene.”
Romanov looked as though she swallowed a particularly large and ugly bug. Tunold expected her to turn green any moment.
“Very well,” she said. “Fetch the Pacifiers.”
◊
Suddenly the Observation Deck’s safe room felt uncomfortably warm and close. The sight of the Martian landscape painting behind Li Hua now made her look more alien to Donal’s eyes.
“You’ve enchanted Mr. Mancuso,” said Donal. Saying the words aloud made him feel as though his stomach had ruptured and begun to leak its contents down through his abdomen and into his legs. “That’s the deception magic, isn’t it? Hiding a series of compulsions.”
“Slowly, and over a course of years,” Li Hua said, pride swimming through her voice. “Finest work of its kind I’ve ever done.”
She reached out to stroke Donal’s chin, and if she
noticed that Donal had frozen in place, Donal couldn’t tell.
“Though I can’t wait to see how you improve them.”
Donal could not speak. Had trouble even thinking. He might not have been sure he was in love with Li Hua, had not even been certain of their future once he went off to grad school. But he never dreamed...
But Li Hua was still talking. “...from the first day I met you. Remember? When I was getting you away from the Aetheric Dynamics hit men? I thought that maybe you had lost the package in all the confusion, but you just smiled and patted your bag, and suddenly I could see it. Like it just appeared out of nowhere. Instant distressed leather. I knew right then that you were already better at deception magic than I could ever be.” She shook her head in admiration. “I just needed to know if you could handle the life. Deal with all the action.”
Donal still could not find his tongue. His breaths had gotten shallow, and the room seemed to develop a slight twist, as though it wanted to spin around Donal, but wasn’t quite ready to start. Li Hua finally noticed, but misinterpreted the lost look on Donal’s face. She smiled, the humorous, infectious smile Donal remembered from that first day on Mars.
“Oh, it wasn’t as calculated as all that,” said Li Hua. “I really did — and do — want your body. Finding a partner who loves the action as much as I do and brings your skill with illusions and deceptions to the mix was a bonus.”
“It’s all you.” Donal finally got the words out in a half-strangled rasp. “All the murders. The seizing power.”
“Oh, Donal.” The excitement ran out of Li Hua’s face, leaving her crestfallen. Even her shoulders slumped. “Didn’t we already go over all this? I do not murder. I defend myself.”
Pride came back into her bearing, her features. She looked sure of herself again. Dangerous.
“I’ve killed to defend you too, remember. And I’ve killed to protect all the magicians everywhere.”
