Industry & Intrigue

by Ryan McCall

  She had been here since this morning, leaving the daily business of running the company to her executives. The governess was due to bring the children by soon. They were infatuated with their uncle; they had always seen him as fun compared to the strict rules and authority of herself and her husband. Not that they could see it was for their own good; children needed discipline.

  Luthais’ left arm had only suffered minor burns on the upper half and shoulder. His front and right side were a different story. He had third degree burns on his chest, all over his right arm, shoulder and burns up the right side of his face. His hair had been singed away, though it had protected his scalp from any major burns.

  But it was not the damage from the terrible fire of the bomb that Tegan feared. Dr. Mary Ashford had informed her that all of his burns were treatable and with the right herbal treatments he may not have much scarring. She was the best doctor in the hospital and was well worth her exorbitant fee.

  The problem lay with the injury Luthais had suffered when he was hit by a piece of flying metal. He had been struck by one of the large metal plates of the grinding pots and knocked down hard. It had given him several broken bones and a hefty blow to the head. Right now he was in a coma and Dr. Ashford had no idea if or when he would come out of it.

  Tegan tightened her grip on her brother’s hand. “Luthais, this is my fault. I should have been more careful, put better security around our sites after those hells-cursed revolutionaries intruded on father’s wake.”

  She clutched at her face with her other hand. “No doubt this is their way of getting pay back for what happened to them. I should have been more careful. I let Kulthon handle the problem and now it’s out of hand.” She made a mental note to get something out of Kulthon for this. His aid had backfired and she was going to squeeze everything she could from him in payment.

  She looked up at his face, unmoving aside from the slow rise and fall of his chest. “Father always let you get away with whatever you wanted. Tessa was the confrontational one, I was the dutiful one, but you…you he always treated as a child, even when you came of age.

  It wasn’t fair I know. It’s why you acted the way you did so often I think. Skipping university classes, seducing the daughters, sisters and wives of father’s business associates. Anything you could to get his attention. But all you did and he never punished you harshly. When Tessa or I did poorly in an exam, he would send us to our rooms. We couldn’t come out until we had studied for so long that we could pass another test. Which he would make us take right then and there.”

  She sighed. “Despite that, he cared about you in his own way. Before he died he told me to watch out for you. He was always so worried that one day you were going to get yourself into too much trouble. That’s why I was so mad at you for that business with Albert Trent. It’s not that it was a bad decision. It’s that I don’t want you involved with difficult business decisions like that. You like to play at being bad, but when it comes down to it, you never had the heart for making tough choices.

  You were good at running the armaments division. I think it was the only job you truly loved. Now look where you are, lying here in this bed. And there’s nothing I can do to get you out of it.” She wiped at her eyes, stopping the tears before they could start rolling down her face.

  There was a knock on the door and she looked up. The door opened and Dr. Ashford walked in, followed by Tessa, her governess and her two children, Janna and Niall. Both the children ran over and she hugged them.

  “Is Uncle Luthais going to be alright?” asked Janna, her voice quivering with concern. She was a sweet girl of fourteen years, with curly brown hair that she wore flowing out. Her hair and green eyes, she had inherited from her father. Niall was a short boy of eight years and he took after Tegan, with darker hair and brown eyes. They were still dressed in their grey and red school uniforms.

  “Of course dear,” she said in a soothing voice. “He needs to rest is all.” She let go of them and put a hand on each of their heads. “I need to have a talk with your aunt and Dr. Ashford, so I want the two of you to wait outside with Ms. Smythe. As soon as we’re done you can sit with your uncle as long as you like.”

  They both nodded glumly and left with Ms. Smythe. Despite her advanced age, Judith Smythe still appeared regal and matronly. She had served as governess in the Mordain household for many years, even raising Tegan and her siblings. She had light grey hair that she kept in a short and tied back with braids. She nodded at Tegan and took the children out of the room.

  Dr. Ashford spoke up, “I was bringing your sister up to date on Luthais’ condition. I plan to start treatment for his burns tonight and once that’s complete, we’ll see if his head trauma has improved.” Her midnight black hair stood out in contrast to her bright, white doctor’s coat.

  “What can be done for his head injury doctor?’ asked Tessa.

  Tegan had already heard the answer to this.

  “I’m afraid we can’t do anything right now, while his body has so much other damage,” replied the doctor. “We don’t want to risk him suffering additional trauma during the healing process. If he wakes up soon then good, we’ll be out of the woods and can concentrate on his healing. If not, well…we’ll go ahead with his burn treatment and see what happens once that has complete.”

  Tessa nodded. “I see. Thank you doctor.”

  “Your brother is lucky,” said Dr. Ashford to both of them. “I know it looks bad, but considering the blow he suffered, he’s in good condition. Head trauma can be dangerous, but I have seen many patients with similar injuries recover and wake up far sooner than you would expect. He needs time to heal is all.”

  She bent over the bed and did a series of checks, making notes on her pad. While she was doing so Tegan sat back down, folded her arms and stared at her older sister.

  Tessa glanced at her, but didn’t try to initiate conversation, she pretended to be interested in what the doctor was doing. Tegan could tell she was waiting to unload criticism on her. At least she had the decorum to wait until Dr. Ashford finished before she started.

  Dr. Ashford stepped back from the bed and looked at both of them. “I’m done here. I’ll leave your brother to you. But I do ask that you restrict your visit to no later than four o’clock. I want to get started on his burn treatment.”

  “Of course. Thank you doctor,” said Tegan. As the woman left she turned her eyes back to Tessa and waited for it. Here it comes she thought. Her barrage of how uncaring I am and how I let this happen. This time she may be right.

  Instead Tegan was surprised to hear her sister say, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t get here earlier. The war has everyone busy. I was in the middle of a closed meeting with finance leaders and the messengers weren’t allowed to interrupt, even for this.”

  Tessa closed her eyes and fell into the other chair. “You were right Tegan. There are dangerous people amongst the socialists. Creator help me, you were right. And now Luthais is on the edge of death.”

  She had never been more surprised by her sister in all her life. Luthais’ condition was a shock for Tessa; just as it had been for her. But she had not been expecting this. Was it possible that they could reconcile and comfort each other over this?

  She stood up and walked over to her older sibling. She bent down and took her arms in her hands. “I’m sorry too Tessa. If I had handled them differently, took another course of action, this wouldn’t have happened.”

  Tessa opened her eyes. They were wet with tears. “Are they certain it was the socialist radicals? I mean the factory was pumping out materials for the war. It would have been a choice target for the Galrians.”

  Tegan shook her head. She had already asked questions like this to the Imperial Branch inspector in charge of the case. “I don’t know the details, but based on what the uninjured workers said, the bomber screamed out a socialist slogan. And yes, I mentioned to the watch that it could have been a Galrian masquerading as a radical, but they’ve ruled that out.
The woman was Alkon and a member of a splinter faction of the LRC. They’re doing everything they can to find her accomplices.”

  “If this is what war feels like, I’m glad I always opposed it,” said Tessa. “Yet now I find myself in a position of having to support it after the Galrian treachery. How can I focus on the finances of an empire at war, when our brother could pass away at any moment?” Her tears were now running freely down her face. Tessa felt as guilty as she did, for what happened to Luthais. Even if didn’t make sense for either of them to do so.

  After all, neither of them had seen this coming, nor been in a position to prevent it. Tegan as always would be the strong and dutiful one. It was what she had been doing her whole life. “You heard the doctor. He has a good chance of recovery, it’s only a matter of him waking up. You know what Luthais is like when he needs his rest. Not even a rampaging deepone could rouse him.”

  Tessa chuckled at her joke. They were both familiar with Luthais’ mannerisms after a night of heavy drinking. He was a stubborn sleeper on mornings after.

  Tegan brushed back the strands of hair that had fallen in front of her face. “You do your job like you’ve always done, whether it’s in peace or war. I’ve never seen anyone better at managing the imperial treasury. I truly do mean that Tessa, even if I’ve never said it before.” She stood back up at looked down at her sister.

  At least the tears had subsided. “Thank you Tegan” replied Tessa and she took a few moments to compose herself and clean her face. “Why don’t you get the children back in?” she asked. “I’m sure they’re eager to see their uncle.”

  “Ha. Knowing them they’ll want to start writing on his casts.” She glanced back at their brother. “If he takes too long to wake up, he’ll find himself with a mural protecting his broken bones.”

  Chapter 68

  The sight of Snar sitting in the pews in his church was a surprise. Isaac was in the middle of cleaning when he walked out of the storage room to find the hulking agorid sitting at the front of the room. He took up a full quarter of the pew. Isaac winced as he heard the wood creak under the agorid’s bulk. He wasn’t sure if the seating could stand up to the weight.

  “Officer Snar,” he said. “It’s good to see you here.” Isaac put down the empty box he was carrying next to the altar and approached the agorid. “May I ask what it is that brought you here?” he asked. “Did you have anything in particular you wanted to discuss with me, or you were merely curious about Varos?”

  Snar looked up at him with his big black eyes. Isaac could see a depth of soul and feeling there that he hadn’t known an agorid could express.

  “The truth is cleric I am troubled” said Snar. “I have questions, but I have no one to discuss them with. If Sergeant Moreland were still here I would have talked with her, but…and I cannot talk with my father. He is part of the problem.”

  Isaac sat down next to Snar. “Well I can’t promise you that I have all the answers, but I am a good listener. As is Varos. He’ll always listen when you have no one else to turn to.”

  Snar folded his paws in his lap. “I have never been one for religion. I have studied them all of course. They are part of our history and culture but I never truly believed it. My father taught me to trust in facts and reason.”

  Isaac sighed. “So many do now. Alkos turned its back on the worship of Varos and the Creator four hundred years ago. The few of us that still follow his shape, struggle here against the vastness of the atheist secularism that has become the norm.”

  “And you think that is bad?” asked Snar.

  “Sidcairn the First was right to do as he did. The brutal religious war of the Azure Blades tore apart the country and his own family. The church of those days had become corrupt with sinners and false clerics. They brought destruction down upon themselves. I regret that it led to the results of today. The church is forced to pay heavy taxes for the right to operate and so many refuse to hear the message of Varos.”

  “I do admit, there is a certain romanticism to your holy book’s tales,” said Snar. “But as an adolescent I always viewed it in the same light as the fairytales of the Harken Sisters or the legends of ancient dragon empires of Xenish.

  Another one thought Isaac morosely. Caught up in the tide of rational secularism. It was too much to hope that he would be open-minded enough to consider it.

  He smiled at the agorid in spite of his thoughts. “Whether you believe or not, matters little. My church is always a sanctuary to those in need and I am always willing to be there for them. Such does Varos teach us. What is it that troubles you Snar?”

  Snar shrugged. “How do I begin? I feel so lost. Growing up I always felt different, being the only agorid. But I had my studies to enjoy and my father encouraged my academic interests. Despite enjoying it, I always felt a need for something different, something that would make my blood run hot. When I joined the city watch I finally felt that I had found this. I could make my place in Alkos and satisfy my innate desire for physical activity.”

  “Innate desire?’ queried Isaac.

  “Yes. My father believes it is part of my biology. Agorids have adapted to life on the steppes and my body’s yearnings stem from that; to run and fight to the point of exhaustion. The watch allowed me to have both worlds, the physical and the intellectual. I am unsure if the other officers even want me there.

  Sergeant Moreland accepted me readily enough, but I can feel the glances of the others; the whispers when they think I am out of hearing. And now Captain Tolov is gone and Selim has been suspended.”

  “What are you talking about? Selim is deep in grief but that is understandable. What happened to your captain?” he asked.

  The agorid looked up at the idol of Varos standing atop the altar. He stared for several long seconds, as if trying to determine a hidden meaning. Then he finally replied, “Captain Tolov was transferred. He is in command a different branch now, I do not know which.”

  “Why would they do that?” asked Isaac. “He appeared a capable leader.”

  “Officially it is a bureaucratic change-up, but everyone at the station knows the real reason. It is because he is Galrian. The government is implementing new policies throughout its branches out of fear of spies. He has been an Alkon citizen for over twenty years, but that doesn’t mean anything to them. It is happening throughout the watch. They did not feel comfortable with the elite Justice Branch being in the hands of a potential enemy.”

  “I see,” said Isaac. Had fear and paranoia truly gripped the nation to this extent? The war had infected the populace with madness if they had resorted to such heavy-handed measures. “And without your captain to overlook Selim’s lapses…”

  “Yes. You guessed correctly. Selim was caught drunk while on duty. The new captain was not pleased. Selim was sent home and suspended, pending a formal review. I tried to see him at his home, but he did not want to talk. Then I went to see my father, he asked me to consider leaving the watch and signing up for the war. He cares for me, but he is patriotic. He was willing to use his connections to get me a role in training fresh recruits. Show them how agorids do it.”

  “Officer Snar, have you ever seen how agorids fight?” asked Isaac.

  Snar looked at him, his black eyes, blinking as he thought on the question. “No, I have not. I have never met another agorid in my life. My father would not risk it. He did not want what he called ‘my baser instincts’ rising to the surface. He is no longer concerned about that as he believes I have matured enough to resist them.”

  By Varos, what manner of man is this Professor Bruce? thought Isaac. To raise an agorid child like this; as if he was nothing more than science project. Snar does not even see it. He has been ensnared by the man he considers as a father and does not see how the man manipulates him.

  Isaac folded his arms, the white sleeves of his robes, crossing over each other. “I cannot tell you what to do and neither can your father. One of my favorite pieces of wisdom from the Book of Varos says
‘Let no man rule unjustly over another, nor let any one man take control of another’s own fate’.

  I can tell you respect your father a great deal and you want to make him proud. But you also have to be true to your own heart. If the watch is where you want to be then stay. But if you need a change than do so, whether it is contributing to this war, or something else.”

  Snar smiled, or at least that’s what it looked like. Isaac had a hard time telling on with his ferocious bear-like face. “Thank you cleric. That is what I needed to hear. I think a change is what I need. The watch will not be the same without Sergeant Moreland and all the talk of this war has stirred something inside me. I think like the rest of my people I am inclined to combat. But if I do so, it will be for something worth fighting for.” He stood up and the wooden pew creaked in relief as his weight was taken off. “Good evening cleric, say a prayer to Varos for me now and then. There may come a day when I need him or the Creator to watch over me.”

  After Snar had left, Isaac pondered on his final words. The agorid may not be a lost cause to the way of Varos. Ridiculous. What would the church elders even think? He already knew the answer to that question. Though the church had leadership structure in Alkos, it still ultimately answered to the Herald of the Grand Church, which was located in the state of Delwick in the Kordate Union.

  The leadership over there was far more conservative and reactionary. Not to mention deeply enmeshed within the political structure of the Union. They did not abide radical new ideas lightly. Isaac suspected they would take a dim view of opening up church membership to an agorid by a minor cleric.

  He heard a noise outside the entrance of the church. He opened the doors and peered out. A light drizzle could be seen falling in the light of the street lamps. Then something smashed against the ground and he saw the shadow of someone.