Colonel Nafim smirked. “That would be your prerogative Sir, although I can’t predict what that might do for morale.”
Cassidy couldn’t help but to smile a bit. Joking wasn’t entirely what she had come to expect from the Grand Elder, and certainly not from the Colonel. It was this moment that Armil looked towards her.
“Cassidy. Cassidy smiling.” He moved over to give her a hug as well. “That is not the smile of a lady who’s just killed a man.”
Her smile faded. “I suppose not. But I’m not what I would call ‘happy’ about it all.”
Armil put one arm around Cassidy’s shoulders and started guiding her towards his onboard office. “I suppose not. You can’t be expected to be overjoyed either way, but you know that no further peace would have come of it.” Sure, she’d thought of all the clichés before. ‘It won’t bring her back’, ‘she wouldn’t want you doing that’, ‘vengeance bad, grr, arg.’. Whatever.
“If you say so, Sir.” Was it too late to go gut Horad? How would that go, ‘Hi, Mister Grand Elder, excuse me for a moment, I want to go turn a fellow inside out slowly, and record his screams for my ringtone.’ A great spiritual leader like Armil has just got to appreciate a good custom ringtone, right?
They entered Armil’s office, with Keith following along. The office was as it ever was, an amalgam of the traditional and the contemporary Armil headed over to the sitting area, and settled in. “Cassidy, come sit.”
As she walked over, Armil brought out the beast spear’s case, and opened it. “Done deal, huh?” Cassidy sat down, and lowered the spear into the case. “Do you think it’s disappointed?” She tapped the base of the spearhead twice, as if in consolation.
Armil closed the lid, and smiled softly. “I don’t know that such a weapon is necessarily bloodthirsty, but if it is, it has been disappointed many times before.”
Cassidy tilted her head and stared at the box. “Was it some kind of test?”
“No,” Armil sighed, “whether or not you had killed Horad, there was no special penalty or reward. It is something that any bearer of the spear must decide, and live with.”
“Hm. Hey, how often do you loan this thing out, anyway?”
Armil chuckled softly. “This was my first and likely only time. You have to go back three Grand Elders to find the last time it was loaned out.”
Cassidy was taken aback. “Woah. If it gets to the media, it’d be fairly big news, huh?”
“I’d say, if only because you’re the first to hold it who was not born Aguei.” Armil seemed content with himself. He looked over to Keith, who had been standing by the door, awaiting orders. “Keith, have that man… ‘Horad’, was it? Brought here.”
Keith paused, and then nodded. “Yes Sir.”
As Keith left, Cassidy turned to Armil. “Uh, Sir? What are you planning?”
“I want to talk to him. One of us may gain some understanding.”
It wasn’t long before Horad arrived, shackled, and escorted by four Storms. Cassidy stood up, feeling the need to be ready for anything. She quickly glanced at her hip to make sure she had her gun.
Horad stood as proudly as he could, being shackled. He looked back and forth between Armil and Cassidy.
It was only a moment before Armil broke the silence. “Horad, have a seat.” He gestured to the spot where Cassidy had been. Horad and Cassidy both looked a bit perplexed. More awkward silence.
Cassidy gasped. “Oh, just sit the fuck down, I’d hate to splatter your brains all over the Grand Elder’s office. It would be unseemly.” She didn’t think she had licence to kill him anymore, but the urge was there regardless. She tried not to look at his hands. Tried not to imagine them pushing that blade into Cheryl.
Horad gave Cassidy a sullen gaze. He didn’t seem especially frightened, his face didn’t seem capable of it, yet he went and sat down across from Armil anyway. The Storms weren’t too comfortable with the idea of a murderer, chained or otherwise, so close to the Grand Elder, but they trusted in Armil’s decisions.
“Why am I here?” Horad asked in monotone.
Armil set his sights onto the spear case sitting between them. “You know why. It is by unlawful actions that a man is forced before law. And sometimes death.”
“I meant in this room. Why am I here? Did you want to see me die?”
Armil sighed. A snarky comment, or was this man just that delusional? “No, Horad. I take no pleasure in vengeful death. You might want to be thankful that Leftenent Stanton does not either.”
Horad grunted.
“What I want,” continued Armil, “is to understand what purpose your attack on the temple served.”
“I have released the prayer before the statue. The strength of the Aguei which you sat by and allowed the government to keep bound, is once again free! You should thank me, were you not such a useless figurehead.”
Silence. While Horad felt smug, (but not allowing his face to show it,) everyone else stared at him in bewilderment.
Cassidy stared, jaw agape. She tilted her head slightly, and the syllables dropped out of her mouth like marbles.
“In. san. i. ty. Plea?”
Armil stared at Horad, with his hand over his mouth. “Where… where do I start trying to understand that?”
“The Aguei people have been repressed by the-“
“Oh, oh, I understand the complaints of the Aguei Rights Activists. Where I’m confused is some prayer releasing our strength?”
Horad grunted in disgust. “You dare feign ignorance, even now that the spell around the statue has been broken?”
Armil strained to see the logic. “Who exactly told you our strength was being… what did you say? Bound?”
“I will not betray someone who helped our people.”
Cassidy let loose an exasperated sigh. “Horad, ole buddy, old pal, bastard that ruined my life, is this prayer a metaphor for giving orders to nanites?”
“Nanites?” Horad’s face broke from his stoic mask ever so slightly, to show a little confusion. He was no tech lover by any means, but after the Erebus attacks, ‘nanite’ had become a household word… even if it was largely misunderstood.
“That little wood thing you left at the statue? It was loaded with em. And the sandstorm you used as cover to get in and out? Huge nanite fleet.”
“Ridiculous!” The arrogance in his voice reminded Cassidy that she had a gun. Oh it would be easy. It would probably be illegal now that she’d given back the spear, but that was not a large concern to her.
“I should have lopped your head off back in your little ditch. Are you seriously unaware of it? Next you’ll tell me that the I.R. suit you had on is a traditional Aguei war outfit.”
Horad’s eyes narrowed slightly. A sliver of doubt scratched at his mind. It did seem a little odd that someone who knew a High Elder, would have access to a suit like that. Surely Samuel was just fortunate in his contacts. Right?
~~~
So much fun. Kirison flipped to another slide, peeked down the eyepiece at the little germ, marked a couple of notes down in the nearby computer. Then flipped to another slide, and so forth.
This was so much fun. It was amazing. He was so glad that his life’s work had been made illegal because of one git and a pile of zombies. Doing the work of a grunt intern was far more fulfilling than what he had been doing.
So. Much. Fun. Pass the noose.
More fun yet, he couldn’t work from home at all. He was stuck in the Lancer lab. Thankfully it didn’t result in many run-ins with that human barge, Book.
Maybe he shouldn’t begrudge Mr. Book so much. He was unpleasant to deal with, but he’d been fair enough. And it wasn’t Book’s fault that the government was full of tightass knee-jerk reactionary assholes.
It was just that Book made for a good symbol to hate. Well, and Jonathan Coll, of course.
Flip a slide, take a note, again, again. He wasn’t even sure what this was for. It was someone else’s project, and he was a tiny cog in somethin
g meaningless to him. It paid rent though. Time for a break.
He closed up the sample tray and walked off to the break room, gladly ignoring (and ignored by) the other techs. As he got close to the coffee machine, he could smell that the coffee was ancient, and burnt. The little terminal on the table had been torturing him all week with ‘adult contemporary’ music. He had tried to get the thing changed to classic rock, but the supervisor shot that down.
He poured some of the burnt coffee into his mug, and stared down at it. It seemed to stare back at him with contempt, daring him to drink it. “Go on, drink me, I taste like shit! You don’t have the balls to drink me!”
Today, Kirison opted to deny the stagnant brew it’s victim. He dumped it down the sink, and rinsed out his mug. Then he grabbed the coffee pot, and dumped the rest. Take that, you vile, bitter bile.
Perking a fresh pot would take time, and make a decent excuse to sit around a little longer. And if someone else noticed him doing it, he’d look like a coffee hero. When he set the pot to brew, he sat down and stared at the wall. The wall was a relaxing enough view, but a tad dull.
He dug out his own terminal, and popped up news headlines as the coffee began its noises.
“A.R.A. TERRORIST CAUGHT” Oh, here we go. Kirison was wondering if this would get released to the news. The story briefly summarized the attack, and something about a non-Aguei being put in charge of something by the Grand Elder, blah blah. They showed a few seconds of footage of some lady with a freaky looking stick, hanging out with a pile of heavily armoured guys. The news could be so annoying sometimes, When it’s a story you want to know more about, they can be frustratingly vague.
Oh well, it was good enough. He knew Horad was in the clink, thanks to Kirison’s tip. He had done his part.
The smell of the new coffee had surged forth, but the stench of the old bitter brew still somehow lingered.
~~~~~
:::C /39
~~~~~
Cassidy was the last of the group to step out of the airlimb onto the Yute central pad. Ahead of her walked a shackled Horad, surrounded by Storms, and led by Keith. The sun was strong today, and the heat poured up from the deck more than it was coming down from the sky.
Others on the deck stopped to watch. Cassidy looked around, and saw that several were throwing her salutes. She returned them with reserved nods of acknowledgment.
“Shoulda gutted him.” Mumbled one Aguei soldier as she passed by.
Cassidy sighed. The A.R.A. seemed to be disliked the most by ordinary Aguei, who didn’t want the A.R.A. damaging Aguei reputation. “Maybe.” She replied.
The thought occurred to her that if she had killed Horad, it would have made him some kind of martyr for other A.R.A. to rally behind. Did that possibility dawn on Armil before he offered her the spear? Whatever. She didn’t kill him, so there was no sense in painting it all in a political light now. Still, even a prisoner can be a symbol to help justify A.R.A. action.
Half way to the door, Cassidy’s terminal rang.
The display read “Incoming call: Brandy Wicklow.” Sure. She picked up.
“Hey, what’s up? How's life in Densfarn?”
“Hey yourself. Your little adventure made the news, huh?” Brandy seemed to be in a decent mood.
“Oh yeah? Did they print a photo of me? Did they get my good side?”
“Yeah, but you still looked like a bitch anyway.”
Cassidy sighed. “Yeah, shut up.”
Brandy tilted her head. “No, no. They showed a little footage of you at a distance. I guess you were at some base.” Cassidy wondered when they took that footage. She hadn’t really been on the lookout for reporters though. “Actually Cass, they didn’t even mention you by name. They did mention that you didn’t kill the guy.“
“Yeah, well, we all make mistakes. You want to talk to him? He’s like four metres ahead of me. Charming guy, friendly, funny. In fact, the whole reason I didn’t lop off his head was cuz of his winning smile.” She raised her deadpan voice just a little bit, hoping Horad would hear.
Brandy smirked a little. “Well, good on ya for sparing the bastard, y’know? Are you serious, he’s right there?”
Cassidy held up her terminal so its camera would get Horad in the shot. His back, anyway. “Yup,” Cassidy said, “Hey Horad! Say hi!” Horad ignored her entirely. She brought the terminal back down. “Sorry Brandy, I guess you’re not his type.”
Brandy looked a little stunned. It had all just become a little more real to her. “Damn, Cass. You’re… really calm. I mean, that’s the guy? You know it? He’s the one who…”
“Yeah. He’s totally delusional, too. He thought he was on some big mission for Aguei spirits or something, and the whole time he was just there to transmit an electronic signal that he didn’t even know he was carrying. Total pawn.”
“Shit, that’s sad.”
Cassidy’s voice grew more sullen. “Yeah. Killing two people for a made up cause. Completely fucked up.”
“Well, even if he was delusional, he still killed. So, was he hard to catch?”
“Easier than I expected,” Cassidy said as they entered the base interior, “but I can’t take the credit. Besides, we got a really good anonymous tip that told us right where he’d be. Whoever sent the tip knew a lot, like the fancy suit Horad had on to dodge the infrared. I wouldn’t mind talking to that guy. If Horad’s confession to me wasn’t as good as a conviction under Aguei law, it’d be nice to have a backup witness, but I guess it’s not too important now. Heck, there's blood traces on the suit, and-”
Cassidy had to stop walking. The group had stopped.
“Keep moving.” One of the Storms ordered Horad. But Horad just turned around slowly to face Cassidy. He looked up from his shackles.
“He sold me out?”
~~~
On the way back to the temple base, Cassidy leaned her head against the airlimb bay window, watching the sand rush by below. Her gaze glazed over, looking but not seeing. Half-thoughts started in her head before she changed her mind again.
“Is it done?” Cipriana’s voice shattered Cassidy’s self-generated oblivion hard enough to make her jump.
“Huh? Oh! Hi Cip, what did you say?”
“Is it done. Now that the killer is caught, do we just go back on duty, and go on?“ Cipriana looked a little spaced herself. Cassidy leaned her head over to see if she had her fingers crossed.
Cipriana noticed, and held up her hand, fingers spread. “It’s just me asking. But it doesn’t feel like closure, does it?”
Cassidy looked out the window again and scuffed her boot against the deck. “Naw, it doesn’t. Do you wish I’d killed him?”
Cipriana swallowed hard, and lowered her head. “No. but someone should have.”
“You?” It was hard to imagine the den mother of peace bringing that spear down on Horad’s neck.
Cipriana rested her hand on her own shoulder and crossed her fingers. “Me. I should have. Before he killed them. It’s my fault. I should have been able to do it. He was there to kill me. It’s all my fault.”
Cassidy struggled to remember that this wasn’t Cipriana talking to her. Did the ghost… the thing... actually care? Regardless, Cassidy put her hand on Cipriana’s other shoulder.
“Blame goes first to the bastard doing the killing.”
Cipriana uncrossed her fingers. “You should take that advice yourself, Cassidy.”
“Damn it, Cip, what’s that mean? I should have been able to stop him, if I’d just pushed through the storm a little more. I was weak.”
She crossed her fingers. “I was weak, too. And ignorant.”
“Both of you shut the fuck up!” Cipriana screamed with her fingers uncrossed. “They’re gone, and trying your damnedest to take blame isn’t going to change any of it!”
Cassidy stepped back in shock as Cipriana slumped against the bay hull. She wanted Cipriana to have her old aura of peace back. Not knowing what else to do, she put her ar
ms around Cipriana.
“I’m supposed to be the leader now. Marcus is gone, and I have to be the leader.” Cipriana sobbed softly, “I know the job, I know how to do it, I practically have been doing it, but I… I don’t know how to do it. I have to be strong for them all, I have to be…”
“Den mother?” Cassidy asked softly.
The crying broke for a moment for a stifled giggle. “Yeah.”
“You don’t have to be that all the time. They all realize...”
Cipriana backed away from Cassidy’s hug. She sniffed, and recovered her posture. The core of her aura pushed forward a little. “They do. They’re good people.” Her voice built confidence and calm slowly. “But I do have to be that. That’s part of the job.”
Cassidy thought of asking if Cipriana had thought of getting someone else for the job of C.O. of the base, but decided against it. She wouldn’t really want anyone else.
Cipriana’s fingers stared to cross, then didn’t. Then did. “I don’t think I want to talk in this manner. It feels wrong to use Cipriana’s body in this way.” Her fingers uncrossed, but she didn’t speak. She looked into nothingness as if hearing the voice. “I understand.” She finally said.
Cassidy raised an eyebrow. “What do you understand, Cip?”
“He doesn’t want to act like a ‘bad nanite’,” presumably referring to the Erebus attacks. “I’ll pass along any messages he has from now on.”
“Well, it was kind of creepy.” Still, he was in there, hearing everything. That was creepy enough on its own.
“Are you coming back to duty?” Cipriana asked, changing the subject.
“Naw, I’m going to go back and see what they come up with from this sketch Horad is helping them make of his … contact, whatever. ‘Samuel’. Horad doesn’t even have a full name for the guy. Maybe that made sense for a guy who only has one name himself. It's common enough for traditionalist Aguei.”
“Why didn’t you just stay at the Yute base, then?”
Watching Yute Page 29
