by Clara Woods
Lenah barked out a laugh. “You lied to me. You manipulated me. You had your people hunt me down. Meanwhile, I had no idea what was going on until we found the temple on Masis III. You were the one who betrayed me.”
“I’m your father and you can trust me. I’m sorry all this went so much out of control. I really am. I did everything to make sure that you wouldn’t get involved in any of this. I regret that I put you at risk. And as your father, I was very worried about you.” His words rang of truth, but Lenah was too angry to accept them.
“Stars be damned, Father. It’s not that easy. You can’t just say sorry and then have it your way again.” Lenah almost stomped her foot, but caught herself at the last moment. She took a shaky breath, then continued with determination. “We’re doing this on my terms. Once this is over, and only if it ends well for us—for humanity, not Starwide Research—I’ll consider forgiving you.”
Her father seemed surprised—truly surprised—at her outburst, and he shrunk a little in his seat.
Cassius softly cleared his throat and lifted his wrist to look pointedly down at it.
Right, they needed to be quick.
“Father, where’s your access card to the mage farm?”
“The mage farm? What do you want down there? You know it’s dangerous.”
“No, I actually don’t,” Lenah answered. “I’ve never been down there.”
“Sure, you have…”
“Not in the security section.”
“Because it’s too dangerous.”
“But why? Aren’t the mages who live there supposed to have good lives? Apartments, plans to expand them to add lake views. Something is awfully wrong down there.”
“Like trafficked test subjects,” Uz growled from behind Lenah.
Lenah’s father looked over to Uz, and his eyes widened as he took her in, though Lenah didn’t know if it was because she was a cut Cassidian or because he recognized her as one of his appointed lab rats. The one to replace someone who had died in there.
He shook his head. “Why would you want to go down there?”
“I don’t know, maybe to try stop the incoming attacks? Our farms triggered the Cava Dara on us. You know that, right?”
Her father continued to shake his head slowly, deep wrinkles standing out on his forehead. “That’s why we’re fighting it off with the armies. Mindless monsters can’t stand in the way of magical advancement.”
“Millions of lives are in danger.”
“We have military strength,” her father insisted.
“Father, this is not a matter of fighting off a few lame spaceships. It’s a serious threat. People might die. People will die. Who’s going to buy those warp drives then?”
Her father shook his head. “A few common lives, but it will serve a greater good.” Ignoring Cassius’s snort, he continued and said, “If Starwide Research became an official corporation, it could improve so many more lives with its mage farms.”
Lenah stayed silent, not knowing what to say. The worst was that she knew she was being the odd one out. Ruthlessly pursuing business goals was not uncommon, and she knew it had cost plenty of lives over the centuries. All for the greater good that a corporation brought to a world’s economy.
“Lenah, check this.” Uz’s voice came from near the shelf. “I think I found a hidden safe.”
With one last look at her father, Lenah turned to see what Uz was pointing at.
It was part of an exposed wall behind the statue of a horse, but as Uz touched the spot with her long fingers, an outline became visible. Only a faint glowing line, but Lenah had seen these before in this house. That’s how the treasury safe looked too.
“Father, open this for us,” she said, turning back to him. Cassius went to help her father up in a less than gentle fashion, then ushered him over toward Uz.
“You can’t be serious,” Timothy whispered, but when Lenah pointed at the safe again, he reached out his hand. Touching a seemingly random spot on the wall with his index finger, a small door opened. Lenah stretched her hand in, not seeing any obvious content. There were only two things inside. An envelope—an actual physical piece of paper, printed with a symbol that looked like a vertical line with two branches coming out of it—and a small access chip, the item she had come looking for. Lenah took the chip and left the envelope behind. She didn’t really want to know.
“That’s it.” She announced to the others, holding up the chip. “We can go.”
“What do we do with him?” Cassius asked, still holding her father by his arm.
“He…” Lenah trailed off. “Tie him up in the bathroom back there. Lock the door.”
Cassius raised an eyebrow but did as told. On a last whim, Lenah stopped him, touching his arm and turned to her father.
“What do you know about mind magic?”
Her father frowned at her. “Mind magic?” he repeated.
“Why can’t I influence you, Father?”
He shook his head. “You know that I have no idea.” For the first time today, he sounded completely genuine.
27 Downward
The door to the Starwide Research offices, Mage Farm division, swung open in front of Lenah. She stepped through the door and into the familiar space beyond. Would anyone question her presence? Or the people she was bringing? Passing the group behind her as investors was a stretch, but if anyone asked, she’d spin a tale of them being a group of quirky sponsors and their toy drone, along with a little sprinkling of mind magic. They wouldn’t be the first ones. The eccentric semi-naked trillionaire with the indigenous costume that Lenah had once brought here had definitely been worse. People would just stare and shrug.
The room was emptier than expected for a normal mid-week afternoon. But today was not a typical day for anyone. People might have left early to be with their families in anticipation of the upcoming fight in space.
Nonetheless, around fifteen pairs of eyes followed them as they crossed the room, loaded with their backpacks and with Lenah in the lead. She gave a friendly nod to the familiar faces and held her posture upright, as corporate Lenah would when trying to give off an air of authority. The room was long, with rows of desks on both sides of a corridor and a silver elevator door that led to the mage farm on the far side.
Lenah saw people frown at them, then quickly move their gaze away when they met Lenah’s eyes. She wondered who they’d seen. Uz? Maybe not, since the Cassidian was trying to hide most of her face behind her hair. Zyrakath? He was hovering low to cover most of himself up between Lorka and Doctor Lund. Maybe the presence of a mage as part of a group of investors looked suspicious. Whatever people saw, it didn’t seem to alarm them enough to take any action. Lenah reached the elevator, and the cart instantly opened when she swiped her stolen access card in front of the panel. As the doors closed, she smiled confidently back into the office, then let out a big breath as the elevator started moving.
The cart would take them not only underground but also several klicks further west toward Lake Astur. A soft slide sideways indicated they were traveling toward the lake now. It also reminded Lenah of the moving prison cells on UPL station. Not a good memory, and she couldn’t help but tentatively reach out to her friends’ minds. She was glad to find she could still feel them.
“He’s an ass for not wanting to help,” Persia said softly from her side, apparently mistaking Lenah’s broody mood for worry about her father. Lenah grunted, not wanting to be reminded. The encounter with her father had drained her, and if she could, she’d be curled up somewhere right now by herself. Maybe in the cockpit of the Rambler.
“You made the right decision. Sometimes we have to lose something for the long-term good,” Uz said when Lenah didn’t speak. Lenah looked at her, nodding. Uz would know all about that. Lenah might have lost her family and status, but Uz had lost her sense of vertigo, then her people, and finally the life she’d painstakingly rebuilt for herself.
“I know,” she whispered. “But I still feel t
errible.”
“I think that’s normal too,” Uz said. “But it’ll get better once you find something to distract yourself.
“I’m not short of tasks.” Lenah groaned, thinking what they were about to do.
“Then focus on that right now. And deal with your father later. One step after the other.”
“You’re right. I just need this elevator to get there.” Lenah glanced over at Cassius, who was standing stoically in one corner of the cart. By this time, she was sure he was angry with her. Nodding she was okay to Uz and Persia, Lenah stepped closer to him and put her hand on his forearm. After a few moments, he shifted, dropping his arm as if in a natural movement and let her hand slip.
Without thinking further about it, Lenah reached out to his mind, prodding him with the idea that he urgently needed to tell her what he felt.
“You and I, we’re incompatible. Look where you come from,” he sputtered out before catching himself as she pulled back her influence. He looked at her in shock that turned to anger. Lenah felt a jolt as if he burned her with fire. The cart had gone silent—apart from the ringing in Lenah’s ears. This was exactly what she’d been afraid of. But how could she have made him say it like that? She stared up at him, unsure what to say when the elevator chimed to a stop. Lenah whirled, checking for the display.
“We’re not there yet. This is someone getting in at the entrance close to the city. Zyr, Uz, try to hide,” she hissed out of pressed lips.
Lenah stepped in front of her group, and Doctor Lund who was the most respectable-looking stood at her side as the door opened.
Two men in suits nodded politely and entered the cart. If they were surprised to see them, they hid it well. Businessmen. Lenah put on her look of confidence, trying to appear like she was not only meant to be here but that she was the most important person around.
“Miss Callo, right?” one of them asked, and the other one nodded a greeting.
Lenah returned the gesture. “Yes.”
They continued their journey in silence, and Lenah’s ears started ringing again. She wanted to get rid of these people and apologize to Cassius. She glanced over toward him, but he stared straight through her, eyes locked on the metal doors. If he’d been distant before, he must be fuming now. She couldn’t blame him. Lenah usually knew better than to cause people to have outbursts like that, and she was regretting this one deeply and, especially, doing it in front of the others. She hadn’t lost control over her power like that since her teenage years. Now, it couldn’t be taken back. Not the manipulation and not what everyone had heard.
“Wasn’t your father going to attend the test results session?” One of the suited men, a middle-aged with a mustache, interrupted her thoughts.
“You’ll have to excuse me, but I’ve never seen you down at the meetings before.”
“Ah,” Lenah answered, forcing on a nonchalant smile. “My father couldn’t make it today and sent me in his stead. Of course, he filled me in on all the details.” She kept up her smile and met his gaze. At the same time, she sent out a burst of sympathetic feelings toward them like she’d done hundreds of times before with investors.
“Wonderful,” the man with the mustache said. “I’m pleased to meet you. I’m Doctor Whiteham. This is my colleague Doctor Lagun. We’re regulars at the Innovation Roundtables.”
“Pleasure to meet both of you.” She shook hands with them, continuing to smile. But inwardly, she worried. Were there going to be a lot of visitors down there today? They had expected to rescue mages but not to deal with a large group of probably unwilling scientists.
“If you’re regulars, then you surely know how many innovators usually participate in the roundtables?” she asked, trying to sound like an insider throwing around the same words they had.
“Oh, we’re a small circle,” Doctor Whiteham said amiably. “Usually just half a dozen of scientists and doctors.” He looked at the others curiously. “Are you bringing more people today…?” his voice trailed off as he regarded her friends one by one.
Before Lenah could answer his question, the elevator chimed again, this time announcing their arrival at the mage farm entrance hall.
“Please, go ahead.” Lenah extended a hand. “I will follow once I’ve shown our new staff their workplaces.” She nodded toward her friends. “Where will the Innovator meeting be held again?”
“As always, in the amphitheater. What kind of new staff are they? They’re quite the mix,” Whiteham said and looked curiously at Cassius who was looming in front of the others, presumably trying to cover them.
“Are you in need of more security down here again? I thought it had already been considerably bumped up thanks to Cheung Corp.”
Lenah was scrambling for an answer and trying to decide if she should try to influence these two again when Cassius answered.
“Not at all. I’m merely the new cook.” He grinned his most stunning grin.
Lenah, thinking that the comment hadn’t helped ease the men’s suspicions at all, shoved an image into their minds of Cassius pleasantly working on delicious-smelling steaks.
Both looked up at Cassius in surprise, then smiled. “In that case, let’s hope we’ll get to taste one of your meals sometime. Good luck with the new position.”
Before they turned to go, Doctor Whiteham touched Lenah on the arm and pulled her aside. He gave Lorka a grave look. “I know you’re new to these meetings, but tell your father that getting young mages like that one is absolutely against the roundtable’s recommendation. He should know better, and I will be bringing this up later.”
“Oh…” Lenah said, at a loss for words. “I’ll let him know.”
Doctor Whiteham seemed content with the answer and turned away.
“What was that about?” Uz asked as soon as the scientists had vanished behind a door that was labeled Tract A.
“It’s obvious. They didn’t appreciate being told that a youngling is sharing their prestigious table,” Zyrakath said, hovering higher.
Lenah rolled her eyes. “Then it’s good for them I won’t actually be attending. But no, I think they meant Lorka.”
“You shouldn’t be so disrespectful,” Zyrakath said, apparently wanting to continue the subject.
“Just be quiet, Zyr. We have more important things to discuss.” Lenah sighed. “Like which of these tracts to go to first.”
Zyrakath sputtered as if her disrespect was causing his cables to malfunction.
“She means it as a compliment, Elder Zyr,” Lorka’s voice interrupted the drone. “For humans, calling someone by a nickname is a great sign of respect. As is mutual silence.” He reached up and patted the drone on his small arm.
Lenah was grateful that someone was patient with Zyrakath. And trying to tell him that her mocking was a sign of respect. If he bought into the idea, she could live with that.
“I say we take Tract C,” Persia suggested. “It’s opposite from where these scientists went. If I wanted to hide illegal operations, I’d put it as far from official rooms as possible.”
Lenah nodded.
“Do these stairs lead somewhere outside?” Lorka asked, looking around the room.
Lenah turned to see the emergency exit sign. “It’s a safe assumption. I say you and Zyrakath scout out those stairs. See where they lead and if we can evacuate the mages there. The rest of us will go into Tract C.”
“Young human, I don’t—” Zyrakath started, but Lorka interrupted him once more. “I think that’s a great suggestion. Thanks, Lenah.” Then to the drone, he said. “Let’s go, Elder Zyr.” Zyrakath pressed his lips into a thin line, but he seemed to come to the conclusion they were right. Without another word, he followed Lorka.
“I don’t suppose I could go with them.” Uz spoke softly. Lenah regarded the Cassidian. She was fisting the straps of her backpack hard at her shoulders, and the blue of her bones was visible at her knuckles.
“Relax, Uz. You’re here on your own free will.” Doctor Lund tried to c
omfort her, but he too looked nervous. Sweat was streaming down his forehead, and he rapidly tapped his foot. Lenah couldn’t imagine how it must feel for them to be here. After getting kidnapped to come to come to the mage farm, it was probably the last place in the galaxy they wanted to break into.
Uz nodded. “I know,” she said quietly. “I’ve just feared this place for the longest time. It’s really strange to be here now and think nothing will happen. At least not to me personally.”
“Something will happen. Just not what they had intended for you two.” Cassius’s tone was serious as he patted his backpack.
28 The Mage Farm
Cassius took the lead toward the entrance to Tract C, motioning for everyone to be quiet as he put his ear to the door. After a few seconds, he shook his head.
“It’s thick metal. I can’t hear anything,” he told them. Then, he pointed to the wall next to the door. “Stand back.”
“If someone’s there, it’s better they see me,” Lenah interjected. “I could have a reason to be here.”
“For being a fancy Callo?” Cassius remarked, and it didn’t sound like a compliment.
Lenah shrunk back but nodded. “Precisely. Besides, I can defend myself.” She tapped her head.
Cassius regarded her, then made space. At least he was talking to her in some capacity. Maybe he’d be able to forgive Lenah at some point. There was still the issue of him believing them to be too different. Admittedly, she had also thought that herself. She shoved the thoughts down. Now was not the time.
Lenah stood in front of the door and tensely watched as Cassius turned the doorknob. To her surprise, it wasn’t locked. There was no one in sight, though Lenah could now hear faint voices, and she took a moment to take in the room. They were in another atrium, this one significantly smaller and less decorated than the first one. A counter sat in the middle, equipped with a medical station. Overall, it felt like she had stepped into a hospital. Lenah’s stomach plummeted. A hospital was very far from the apartments promised to the independent mages who supposedly lived here.
