by P. S. Power
"Wait... Maybe..." Pran moved Mara back, nearly losing her several times, even though the struggle wasn't real. It was hard to hold on to someone moving without a discernable pattern. Finally Pran handed her off to Saran.
"Hold her will you? I think that Tammy was just about to tell us something useful. You can do that, right? It doesn't have to be much, just something so that Saran will back me instead of Mara..." It was blatant manipulation, but Mara started struggling then, like a madwoman, making the Older Guardian work much harder to keep her still than Pran had to.
It was scary for Pran, and she was almost certain that Mara was just acting.
The male Judge stood facing where the noise was coming from.
"That would be good. I'll back your plan Miss. The emergency powers won't hold if this lady is aiding us. It's about the only thing that will work." He sounded uncertain for a half second, then asked the others if they could think of anything else that might be enough.
Claire had her eyes still closed as well and spoke firmly.
"No. I spent extra time in study on the topic. A cooperating asset is immune from extra legal pressures, even under the emergency act. But it has to be genuine cooperation. That was written in long ago. If she starts talking, then... Yes, that would work."
There were a half dozen Guardians at the door suddenly, almost as if entering on a signal. They all had Kinetic pistols out and looked angry enough to kill. Pran stepped in front of them, rifle across her chest, hoping they'd get the idea, if they hadn't been listening already out in the hall. She had a sneaking suspicion they had been.
"Halt! This prisoner is under my protection. She's going to help us of her own free will. You can't have her. Not if she does that." She looked, only moving her head, seeing Clark more clearly than the others, since he was the biggest person in the room.
Tammy for her part... Agreed.
"Alright. What do you want to know?"
The questions that came were different than what Pran would have asked. For instance, no one bothered to ask who the woman really was. That, it turned out, didn't matter at all. What they wanted to know about was who was helping her.
Tammy was still lying on the floor, blood drying next to her as she answered.
"Who? Just the people from the unit. We're called the Elite Corps. There are a lot more of us than you'd think. We're everywhere. I don't know everyone. Just the people that came with me onto The Lament and a few others."
That got the woman pulled from the room fairly quickly, which made the Doctor look worried again.
"Will they hurt her?" The question was directed toward Pran as if the new girl would have answers like that.
She didn't answer at first, but Claire did, from across the dining room.
"No. Not if she keeps helping us. No one wants to hurt her, we just need to know who we can trust. She was taken from the room in case some of us are in on this take over plan, or whatever it is."
Pran thought about it for a second, looking at the Doctor who gave her a skeptical gaze in return.
Finally she spoke, her voice soft.
"Well, I guess. I mean, how could we prove otherwise?" She didn't think it was likely that a real Doctor would throw in with people that seemed to want war, but it was possible that there was something going on that she didn't understand. In fact, there almost had to be.
It was Mara that explained the rest of it to her, smiling in the wrong direction as she did it.
"Seriously. Especially you. I mean a Bard that just happens to tackle some rapist in an alley as a Judge and two Guardians were walking by? Pretty suspicious. Then you took to the work without any complaints. Everyone knows that bards whine all the time. It's part of the job description. Sing, whine, paint. Practically the motto." She sounded happy about it, but it got a strange response from the room.
The older male Judge in particular.
"It's a real enough point. Not likely, but right now we can't test anyone for veracity, not any of us in the room. We need to be able to see people in order to read their subconscious body language. There are other tests we can perform of course, but they aren't as reliable. Anyone could have been planted and we need to take that seriously."
Pran felt her breath catch in her throat, feeling accused, even though she hadn't done anything at all wrong. Well, not that level of wrong at least. She wasn't involved in some technological cult or anything. That wasn't even an option for her. She'd spent the last years in art school. She was about to inform the man in his white robed of that rather firmly when Claire laughed.
"Except that I already questioned Pran rather closely, Brown. She's what she seems, an intelligent and talented young woman that is willing to do what it takes to survive. I'll admit it's rare to see that level of toughness in a Bard, especially one so young. I think it comes from her early upbringing and the fact that she doesn't think anyone will really back her in anything. Even now, with us here, she doesn't really feel safe. It's why she shot Tammy herself I bet. Not that it wasn't the right thing to do at the moment."
"That's true." Mara sighed and shifted a little, straining to listen, if the tilt of her head was an indication. "If she'd figured out how to use the pistol we'd all be dead now. She had to know that she couldn't escape, not from in here surrounded by Guardians. Pran did the right thing."
The Doctor suggested that they retire to a dark room for a while and led them all to her patients space, off her office. It was pretty similar to the one on The Lament, except that the walls had colorful paintings on them. She caught Pran looking at them and waved at them as everyone settled onto a bunk, except Mara, who insisted on standing. In case an attack came.
"The Captain encourages us to do it. I don't have much talent for it, but a few of the people here do a decent job."
Mara smiled and turned toward Pran pretty well, even though she hadn't spoken at all for about a minute.
"Speaking of jobs, since you've been cleared by a Judge and all, maybe you should see to mine? If I can't do it at least you can take a stab at it. Go get with Clark and see what he suggests? I have this here." Her face was set, a fixed grin that was being used to cover fear.
It wasn't hard to figure that part out. Being blind would be terrifying. Pran still had a blotch in front of her own eyes, which was shrinking pretty fast. What would she do if there was just nothing? The answer came almost instantly though, she'd do what she could. A lot of things that a Bard did wouldn't require her to see at least. She could play instruments that way after all and sing. Telling stories didn't require seeing either.
Carving would be hard, but not impossible, once she thought about it for a second. She could do a lot, if it came down to it.
A Guardian though, like a Judge, needed to be able to see.
A wave of fear nearly took her then, thinking about these others. No one was allowed to starve or suffer, not if they had a disability, but they had good lives and were useful to society right now. If they were left blind... They'd simply be burdens, without any skills to make themselves a part of the whole thing. It wasn't the slow reduction of importance that came with old age either, but something that the day before none of them would have even considered. What would they do?
They'd have to rely on their friends to help them.
"I'll do that. Don't worry... I'm here for you. All of you." She felt the words, but knew they'd sound wrong when they came out, Claire took a deep slow breath though, fighting for calm.
"I know Pran. Thank you."
She had to leave then, before anyone realized that she'd started crying. None of them had water leaking down their faces after all. It would make her seem weak. Luckily it was dim enough in the room that no one could really see her face, not even the Doctor.
She wiped her face with her sleeve and fought for focus herself, trying to breath and not sob as she walked toward the cell, wondering if that was where Tammy had been taken. She didn't hear any moaning or talking. It took a long time, over an hour, to fin
d where they'd all gone which was outside near the center of the landing field. The space was ringed with black clad Guardians and the one apprentice that they had with them. It wasn't a lot of people really, just ten of them, eleven if they wanted to add her to the mix. There would be six off on the guard perimeter too, most likely. So sixteen in all. It wasn't a lot of people. Having Mara down, even temporarily, could make a big difference.
The talking stopped as she got to the edge of the circle, everyone looking at her in the cool afternoon sunlight. There were clouds overhead and a strong breeze starting, which seemed to be the topic at hand, surprisingly enough.
Saran nodded at her as if she belonged and started speaking again.
"We need to either get the ships out now, before the storm comes in, or deflate enough that we won't lose them all when the mooring lines snap. I'm going to suggest that we do that, send them all away, except The Lament, which will deflate in place to pick us up after the event. That way, if things go wrong our losses will be cut." She glanced at Pran and shook her head, just a little.
"We have information about where the main camp is, about sixty kilometers from here. We can run in, which will put us in place by morning for attack. If we hit them fast they won't have as much time to prepare. It will take all of us though."
She glanced at Clark and then oddly enough at one of the other women, who Pran didn't know at all.
"I... Apprentice Pran... I know that this isn't your job, but we need someone to stay here and guard The Lament while we're away. It won't be easy... Will you do it? It will be over a day of steady watch... I..." She looked genuinely distressed at the idea.
Clark just shrugged.
"Not perfect at all, but if we need to leave someone here in charge of that, it might as well be her. At least since First Mate Paul is down. She can stand the watch, even for that long. I have no doubt of that."
One of the men, the bearded one named Robert stared at her.
"With an air-rifle and her wits alone?" He shook his head and looked away, scanning the area around her. "Hardly fair, what is the point? If they're attacked..."
Saran practically growled back at the man then, her face hard.
"If they're attacked she'll do what she can to buy time so that the ship can re-inflate and leave. That takes about two hours Pran. That's the job. It's too much to ask of you, but we don't have any other resources for it."
She didn't have to think about it a lot. After all, if there was no one else, then she'd have to do. Somehow.
"Alright. Can I get a stronger weapon then? I don't have time to learn to use it, but..."
Clark nodded.
"Kinetic pistol and a larger bore rifle. I'll pre-set the pistol for you. Come with me, we don't have long. Tammy is leaving on The Conscript along with the other prisoners."
They decided to split the ones from town up, but they were all going. If something bad happened they were going to have someone alive to talk at least. Though it was clear from the way that Clark and some of the others guarded their words they didn't mean it in the same way Pran would have. She sort of guessed that their chatting would be done with sticks and burning embers. Hopefully that was an act to keep Tammy on the right page, but she was really starting to wonder exactly where the Guardians would draw the line, if it came to trying to protect society from being unbalanced.
That was the real issue here, she knew.
Clark explained it to her as they moved into The Lament to get her better weapons and some food to carry with her.
"Oh, I need a water bottle too." She said it calmly, not feeling that way at all. Acting really helped with things like that.
"Right. Two of them in fact, a pack to carry things in and some drugs to keep you awake. You won't be able to sleep until we get back. If we aren't here within two days, if the weather allows it, make the Captain take off anyway. A storm is about the perfect time to do this, but it's also a pain in the rear having airships along... The big problem here is that we don't know exactly what these people are willing to do. The ones in town haven't said a lot yet. You did a great piece of work on Tammy though. How did you know about the act? Did Mara explain it?"
"Act? I was acting, but..." It didn't seem like that was what he meant.
"The Emergency Powers act? The one that allows Guardians or Judges to torture someone if the needs of society are great enough. We can conscript people using it too, or take their goods or the result of their daily labor. We try not to use it, since it always makes people a bit upset when we do."
Pran didn't let herself go still, reaching for the pack that Clark was pulling from the back of the armory, holding it while he filled it with different kinds of ammunition and tied bottles in canvas pockets to the outside of it for water. The whole thing was beige, the natural color of the material it was all made out of.
"Oh..." She shrugged and tried to memorize what was going in the bag, not letting the whole thing bother her too much.
"Um, I thought I was making that up. You know, to scare her with?"
That got a real laugh then, if a dark one that ended after just a few seconds.
"Well, it worked. Better than actual force has on any of them so far. We might need to consider trying that first next time. Get you to come in and pretend to be helping the person like that."
He stopped and held out a Kinetic pistol. It was big, heavy looking and made of dull colored metal and wood. There were brass knobs on the side of it. The thing looked about right in his giant hand, but when Pran took it the weight and size felt all wrong.
"Kinetic pistol. I know, all pistols are Kinetic and no, I don't have time to explain how the name came about right now. There are five different controls on it, each of which influences how the round or charge reacts when the trigger is pulled. The energy stored in it can be recharged in the field, but you won't have time for that. I set it for maximum force and density of the projectile. If you aim this at someone and hit them, it will kill them. I won't go into how this isn't a toy, you already know that from your rifle work. This is the weapon of the Guardians and controlled so that only one of us is allowed access to them. With this, when fully trained, one person can take on twenty or more, and win. Untrained, like you are... It's still a devastating device. If someone tries to take you, aim this at their center and stop them." He gestured for her to situate it in her side pouch and dug out a funny looking metal piece.
"Rounds for it. You have ten shots in the weapon and this gives you ten more. After that you won't have enough charge to do anything. Before you use this though, try the rifle. It's the same as the one you've been carrying, but about four times stronger and with a heavier round. This will kill too, with a shot to the middle or head. Not as certain as a Kinetic pistol, but easier to use at long distances. The canister is heavier, so no spare for that one, here."
The thing was bulky and weighed at least fifteen pounds, which was a lot more than she'd expected. She nearly dropped the thing at first, Clark wisely not letting go of it until she nodded.
"With these you're better armed than almost anyone on the planet. If you were one of us, a trained Guardian I mean, armed like this you'd be expected to be able to defend against nearly thirty attackers at once." He shrugged and gave her the most serious look he could manage with a smile trying to force its way onto his face.
"As a Bard you can just shoot one or two and then claim it's thirty, so it will balance out, don't you think?"
She nodded and held the barrel of the rifle toward the floor as Clark locked the weapons cabinet behind him.
"Like how I single handedly beat all fifty of the Creedy brothers with nothing but a single song and a few well placed kicks to the groin?"
They walked toward the galley at a speed that was close to jogging then, the man nodded a bit as they did.
"Exactly like that. Though I think the real story is good enough. No one will believe it anyway. Though if you tell it... You might change the name of the woman from the town, so sh
e won't be shamed."
It was a good, and real point. She'd need to do that, both to protect the woman and because as a Bard she'd be expected to have some stories ready to tell on short notice. Most of the ones she had so far were just the things taught to everyone in school. Everyone knew those, so they weren't that much fun. Stories from her life would be more useful to her. Of course those would be a lot better if she was only involved on the fringes. Talking about things that she'd done would seem like bragging, unless she came out looking silly for having done them. It wouldn't be that hard to manage.
Like this story, where she'd probably be out standing in the rain for a day with nothing happening.
"I need something to keep the rain off. I don't have an oil slicker or anything." Even if she'd had all her gear from school she still wouldn't. She'd never owned anything like that. Most people simply didn't go out in the rain if they could help it. She just couldn't avoid it right now.
Clark tilted his head and ran, but not to his room. He went to Judge Claire's quarters instead and pulled out a very nice and clean looking piece of material in deep green that was coated in something that made it slick and unpleasant feeling to the touch.
Pran grimaced as it was slipped on over her head. She needed something like it, but she hadn't even asked permission to use it. She probably couldn't now either, since the Judges were all on The Conscript with Mara and they were taking off, if they hadn't done so already.
"She's going to kill me if I get this ruined too, isn't she?" Pran stared down at the nice and no doubt expensive covering, her arms in the sleeves already getting warm.
"Most likely. Still, this is an emergency and she's a public servant. It's her job to protect other people, as much as it is ours as Guardians. I've never seen her hesitate to do that."
"I'm not really a Guardian. I'm only an Apprentice Bard and a brand new one at that."
"Oh? I seem to remember you signing on with me and Mara... I guess I could be mistaken, but it seems to me that you have the faith of the Head Councilor already and are being given a post that would normally go to a full Guardian if we had anyone to spare. We just don't know what we'll be facing and can't risk it. You can do this Pran. Your friends and shipmates are counting on you. There is no one else."
