Wings

by Fearadhach MecRaudri

  This was a fight against the Senlan, though. A scrappy, gutter-trash bunch if ever there was one. Their normal turf was strictly the roughest of the outer colonies; mining and fishing camps mostly. They were used to being able to push about government lackeys and plebes alike, and probably didn’t understand just yet how badly they had overstepped their bounds.

  They next turned to the idea of looking to some of their allies for aid, but quickly rejected it. No one wanted to want to get involved in a fight against the Senlan. They were far too likely to do something extreme and out-of-bounds in reprisal. As they discussed this, he felt himself growing angrier again, as he realized the deftness and depths of Gabern’s choice of opponents. No one would help them against the Senlan, but no one would help the Senlan either. This was going to be strictly between the two of them.

  It was a set up, and one with a number of traps laid into it. The Fendal were actually well thought of in this province. A lot of work had gone in to making sure that he and his were seen as benevolent suppliers of needful things, legitimate and otherwise. They handed out turkeys at Christmas and gave reasonable loans to legitimate businesses trying to get by.

  He truly had been hoping to bring this organization legit, but that was never going to happen now. Not in his lifetime, at least. These interlopers would be seen by the citizens as interlopers and invaders, but that didn’t matter in the long run. This opponent was good at whisper campaigns, he knew, and good at spreading fear. The people here were already starting to feel fear of the violence to come, and the Senlan could capitalize on that fear like few others.

  The conversation drifted around and around, and decisions were slowly made. He gave his approval where he needed to, made modifications when he felt he should. When things came back around to the final topic not put to rest, that of asking for aid, Lorcan shook his head and noticed that Kevin still had something he was holding back.

  He stood and addressed them all, cutting off all argument. “We will not be going outside ourselves for aid. That is final. Even if we were able to get someone else to help us, which is unlikely, it would be seen as a sign of weakness and timidity. We must avoid any such appearance at all costs. We have far more than they do in the way of financial resources, and we *will* pay our own way. The only help we will request is that for which we can pay up front. Our resources are our strength, and we will use them!

  “We must be mindful of their strength, though, and that is numbers. They inhabit the dank underbelly of the underworld where we operate, and their profit comes as much from sheer numbers as anything else. They have the ability to throw an endless pile of bodies at us, if they feel that will win. Despite the fact that we are on home turf, we can not take a purely defensive posture on this. We have to actively make sure we know when they have resources headed here, and find out where they are going before they arrive.”

  Kevin had stood, and was waiting to be acknowledged. Finally, Lorcan thought to himself as he gave Kevin the floor, we get to this pup’s suggestion. “Sir, with all due respect to all those here, I don’t think we are as safe from the Senlan recruiting allies as we may think. Many out there are going to be betting that the Senlan will win, both because of their reputation for ruthlessness and the fact that they are not getting shut down after this blatant violation of Convention.

  “If their being allowed in here wasn’t a punishment on us from the handlers, they would be up to their eyeballs in feathers right now. I think it might behoove us to consider doing something to warn all the others to stay out of this fight. As much as I hate to say it, it may be the best chance we have.”

  Lorcan stood rock-still for several moments, studying Kevin for any hint of a challenge, as did nearly everyone else in the room. The boy was the most junior of the lieutenants, and his waiting till the matter was all but decided to state this felt a little too much like a challenge for the already tense room. He sat there casually, though, without a hint of challenge and that damnably open face of his. Lorcan finally spoke, but made sure to put a little gravel in his voice, “And I suppose you have a plan for just how and where to hit them?”

  “Yes, sir. It is a bit of a stretch, and I nearly decided not to bring this up, but I feel I must. We need to show everyone that we have the resources and the will to strike them if they decide to get involved, and make it clear that, if we go down, we will take anyone who interferes with us. We also need to weaken our opponents.

  “Since it is unlikely that they have managed to make any sort of real foothold in this area yet, that means striking them at home: Preferably on several fronts. The Senlan are large and have a great many people. That is both their strength and their weakness. If we can hit enough of their mid-level bosses, and even one or two lieutenants, we can throw them into a bit of confusion. If we hit a couple of their major supply depots, and hit them hard and loud, we will make it clear that we are, in fact, still quite strong. If we can hire a few smugglers away from them or, even better, to take out some of their supply lines, we will both show strength and will weaken them further.”

  Lorcan glanced around the room, and saw heads nodding in agreement. The boy’s attitude was perfect, almost too perfect. Calm, reasonable, his body language saying that he wasn’t sure his idea even had merit but that he felt like he should express it. This made him appear both brave and non-threatening. It didn’t help that he was exactly right. Even if there was no danger that the Senlan could recruit allies, hitting them a bit on their home turf was exactly what they needed to do. It carried its own dangers, of course.

  They would be skirting the edges of Convention by going outside the actual contested zone, but it was not like the Senlan could make any Convention appeals that would hold water at this point. It would also show them that they weren’t the only ones who knew how to fight dirty and to skirt the rules.

  So, yes, what Kevin said was the necessary course. There was just something in his manner that put Lorcan on edge. The kid was far too amiable, too likeable. Far too likeable to have gotten into this room at such an early age. He made a mental note to watch this kid carefully, as the boy would soon have to be either promoted or disposed of.

  After taking his silent poll of everyone in the room, he spoke, “You make a good point, Kevin, several good points in fact. I think we all agree that your plan should be carried out. Jonar, you are in charge of the project. I’m sure Kevin here has a great many ideas on what can be done. Get with him, figure out what is practical and what isn’t, then come to me with a battle plan. I expect the report by midday tomorrow. We need to move on this fast.

  “That leaves us with one other matter. You have all mentioned the handlers several times, but in reality, there is only one of them I am worried about. That Gabern pup who has been put in charge of us has over-stepped himself by allowing this challenge, even more so by failing to reign in the challengers. Oh, I doubt that they will do anything like this again, but they won’t have to. Most of these conflicts end up having a violation or two, and they have spent theirs quite well. If nothing else you have to hand them that. That little pencil-pusher should be forcing them to pay reparations for this, however, and it is not happening.”

  Lorcan had begun to pace, the color on his face slowly darkening. Those gathered began to shift from their relaxed postures. They knew the signs of Lorcan working himself up, and they wanted to be able to bolt if they had to. “No, the real cause of our problems is that damned snot-nosed, silver-spooned brat. The nerve of that…that…boy! I’ve been in this game since his father was in diapers, and have fought hard for everything we have. And here he comes, hitting us with something that could destroy us and will definitely weaken us for what? FOR WHAT? Because the little bastard can’t supply us with proper intelligence like he is supposed to and he wants to cover his tail, that’s for what! I want him watched.

  “Therbin, find us some assets in Landing. If you can’t find any, plant them. I want that little cretin watched. I want to know his moves, his sched
ule, his likes, his dislikes, everything about him. Where he works, where he sleeps, how often he goes to the bathroom. Everything!”

  The room had gone deadly silent. This order could mean one thing, and only one thing. Finally, one of them - who was behind Lorcan when he spoke - whispered, “Boss, do you really plan to…”

  Lorcan cut the man off by whirling around, gun suddenly in hand, with a speed seemed to shock them all. The gun was pointed at the floor, but it was still there. No one moved. You could have heard a pin drop on the carpet as Lorcan stood there shaking with rage. Finally, a voice came from one edge of the room. Lucy Fendal was the one person in the room whom all of the men hoped would speak, but who none had dared look at, “Oh, Father, don’t be so upset with the poor man. He does make a valid point, what do we plan to do about this guy?

  “Do you really plan to kill him? That would risk bringing the Legion in this whole mix against us, wouldn’t it?” Lorcan turned on her, rage still burning in his eyes. She met his gaze calmly. She was the only person in the room safe from Lorcan. Her three older brothers had died in territory disputes or other circumstances, and so she was the only child he had left. Her current job in the organization was to run the brothels and manage their intelligence gathering, two jobs which went hand-in-hand. Those brothels were a major source of income, since they were the only ones who had the connections to keep them operating after having prostitution outlawed some years ago. This, of course, had been the point of having the practice made illegal.

  They all knew he planned to hand the reins to her one day, but didn’t know if that plan involved waiting until he died to do it. His shaking stopped as they stared at each other, and at last he spoke through clenched teeth. “No, daughter, I have not gone senile, nor blind with rage. I do not intend this little bastard to walk away from this unscathed, however. I have worked, fought, and bled for this family, to get us where we are, and I will NOT have this little strap of a man pull something like this without reprisal.

  “What we are going to do with this information I am not sure yet. We obviously can’t do anything at all while we still have this fight on our hands, but that doesn’t mean we can’t one day. This whelp thinks he can go from his mother’s tit to taking me down, and he is going to pay for that. Not today, not tomorrow, but one day. One day he will pay, and he will know why on that day. For now, all we are going to do is gather data. Someday, though, when this Senlan incursion is dust beneath our boots and all of this seems forgotten, we will act. On that day we will teach this unruly pup that the silver spoon in his mouth does not make him immortal.”

  His daughter nodded, then a mischievous grin spread over her face. “Father, I just had a wonderful idea. There is another group we need to punish in all of this. It was The Column, after all, who pulled the raid that brought this sanction on us, isn’t it?”

  Lorcan rolled his eyes. The annoyance he directed at his daughter would have been rage at anyone else, “Lucy, we have covered this enough times before! We can’t move on The Column’s brothels ourselves. They are too hard to deal with, too dangerous a foe to fight like that. Furthermore, despite what they have cost us, we probably need them now more than ever. That money they pay to prevent us from going to CentGov about their supply lines is going to be far too needed for this fight.

  “I’ll grant that we can make at least some of that money up by moving into their brothels, but that will take time and investment, neither of which we have.”

  His daughter’s grin had widened, and excitement entered her tone this time, “You hit it exactly, father. They pay us not to deliver their secrets to CentGov…but, if we made sure that the Senlan find some of their supply lines... We will have to be careful, of course. Make sure that the Senlan think they figured it out themselves, but that can be handled easily enough. The Column will, no doubt, be very unhappy with the Senlan after that. Possibly unhappy enough to do something themselves.

  “Furthermore, we can use the Senlan to deal with some of those brothels. Make these invaders think that some of The Column brothels belong to us, and that we are using them to store weapons or something… I happen to know that there is at least one of their brothels where they are doing just that. It should be easy enough to put those Senlan dogs on that trail.”

  Lorcan walked over and kissed his daughter on the forehead, “My dear, you are as clever and ruthless as you are beautiful, and rabidly tenacious to boot. I knew you’d find a way to rid us of those Column brothels one day, but would never have thought you could use this to do it. The fact that you have given us two ways to strike at those Column bastards, and extract money out of them in the process, is even better. Do it.”

  A quick survey of the room told him that the time had come to end the meeting. Several men looked like they wished to speak, now that his mood had shifted, but he doubted that they wanted to say anything about the war. “I think that settles everything, then. If any of you have anything else to bring up directly related to this war, come to me privately after everyone else has left. If you have something to say that isn’t directly related to the war, save it for later. You can all go now. Lucy, send me a couple of your girls, and tell them to bring food.”

  Chapter 14

  Gabern swirled his drink slowly, listening to the soft tink-tink-tink of the ice hitting the sides of the glass as he gazed around Sar Cohen’s living room at the people assembled. It made him feel both better and worse to see other ‘junior’ persons present at his new mentor's ‘private party’. His eyes swept the room and noted which established person each younger man, or woman, sat next to. There were no pretenses here, he and the other protégés were on display. Their mentors were making it known to each other who they had under their protection, and allowing them the prestige of hearing what took place at this officially unofficial meeting.

  It felt demeaning, in a way. He felt a little like a new pet being put on display. But he also found it exhilarating. The sponsorship of one of the most powerful men in the world could do wonders for his Family’s prestige. Being openly acknowledged as Sar’s student, however, that could take him and his family to heights they otherwise could not have hoped to reach for at least another generation. He knew that Sar’s protégés had a distressing tendency to meet a bad fate, but not all did, and one sometimes had to risk much to gain the rewards.

  He took a moment to savor the lavish appointments of the room. From the deep plush carpet, to the dark-wood paneling, to the skylight which showed the nebula of the night sky. Sar spared no expense making his home pleasant, tasteful, and comfortable to both body and eye. The house itself was a statement in opulence, placed on top of a spire a mere dozen miles from Landing, the world’s capital. The extra security this location provided became a special sort of luxury: no ground-based approach could reach this house, and they were still within Landing airspace, the most controlled airspace on Kethelmar.

  His wandering thoughts went from his surroundings to the faces of the other protégés within the room. It was obvious who had been in one of these meetings before and who had not. The ones who had been here were relaxed enough to be bordering on boredom, intently studying their drinks. They knew the protocol here, and knew that it was terribly unlikely that they would have the chance to contribute anything to the discussion. Sar had not briefed him on the protocol. Some would see that as an oversight on the Commandant’s part, but he doubted that an oversight by the man was even possible.

  No, he was being tested, both to find out if he could figure out the protocol here on his own, and to see if he could contain himself. The body language of the protégés who had been here before confirmed his suspicions about what that protocol would be. Speak when spoken to, and then only in answer to a direct question. They were here to be seen, to let others know that they were being protected, and they were here to learn. One learned by using one’s ears, not one’s mouth.

  The opportunities to advance the positions of his family members in this room were astounding. A
fter the meeting there would be some casual social time, and that would allow him to build bridges. There would be no chances to get anyone placed at this time, but, if cards were played just right, the people here just might think of his family when looking to fill positions. There were just so many possibilities. Here a Supreme Court Justice, there the Speaker of the House, and across the room sat Yolanda: a woman who held no actual position, but ruled a family of great influence with an iron fist. The party whip for the Centrist party was telling off-color jokes to the whip for the Expansionist party. He had to smile at that. The two played the bitter rivals in public, but here they were found to be old friends.

  It was a struggle to school his features as he looked over the other protégés again. The new ones could be picked out by the look of excitement in their eyes. They had never been to one of these sessions before, and he could pick out some who would never be back. An idle thought wondered who would be the first to speak out of turn, and if the others would learn from the mistake? A sip of his drink suppressed a smile, and the appearance of those who had been here before was adopted. He wondered if this was what Cohen had been waiting for, since the real meeting started immediately after he relaxed.

  Cohen lifted his glass and looked into it as he spoke, “So, as to business. A number of you have asked me privately about events in Kendal province. Gabern noted the general stirring in the room, and no few glances in his direction. They knew who had approved this mob war, and who had picked the combatants. Some glances were curious, others accusing. It took little effort to keep his features smooth, but it did take effort.