Death's Handmaiden

by Niall Teasdale

  Courtney let out an exasperated gasp. ‘She was warned and she, or someone else, moved her stash.’

  ‘So, who knew about the raid beforehand?’

  ‘Everyone on the council,’ Mitsuko said. ‘What about the SSF?’

  ‘Courtney didn’t tell us what was happening until about ten minutes before we went in,’ Kyle said. ‘It’s possible that someone could’ve done something, but I don’t think it’s likely.’

  ‘Exactly what did you tell the council?’ Nava asked.

  ‘Um, your message came through while we were discussing the drug problem. Darius was mouthing off about how the SSF wasn’t doing its job.’

  ‘And Suki was taking him apart,’ Melissa put in, grinning.

  ‘I hear he plans to go into politics. End up on the Clan Council. He’s no cop. Anyway, I said I’d received evidence that Michelle Yamasaki was using and that–’

  ‘No,’ Melissa said. She was scanning her ketcom. ‘You said you’d received confirmation “of something.” You never actually mentioned evidence, or what the confirmation was. When you said you were going to raid an apartment, Suki asked whose and you told her. You said that the Yamasakis might be persuaded to pressure Michelle into talking. Darius found it hard to believe that she would use the stuff and I brought up her sudden improvement since the holiday. And then we pretty much wrapped the meeting.’

  ‘I should have just looked at the minutes,’ Nava said. ‘So, we have three suspects and Mel’s life is in danger.’

  ‘Three?’

  ‘Why three?’

  ‘M-me?!’

  Nava weathered the burst of confused questions from Mitsuko, Courtney, and, of course, Melissa. She was about to speak when Kyle cut in instead. ‘We can forget Melissa as a suspect because we’d need the same sort of convoluted scheme as with Nava to make it work. Besides, she’s backing up Nava’s testimony. I’m assuming Nava has a good reason to exclude Mitsuko, so that’s not one of her three. Darius, Leland, and Marie were in the meeting and could have told Michelle about the raid. Personally, I think we can exclude Marie, but that’s just gut feeling.’

  ‘That’s… logical,’ Courtney admitted.

  ‘But why am I in danger?’ Melissa asked. ‘I’m sorry to be selfish, but I kind of think that’s the more important thing here.’

  ‘You spoke up in the meeting,’ Courtney said. ‘You basically told whoever is behind this that you knew Michelle was using. Given what happened to Brynn Hermanson, I’d expect the next logical step would be to have you die of a drug overdose.’

  ‘Unimaginative,’ Nava said. ‘I’d almost hope that they come up with an alternative. Perhaps a dive off the roof of our building. Whatever, I’ll be spending the night in your apartment, Mel.’

  ‘We can provide–’

  ‘No. No disrespect, Courtney, but we haven’t absolutely excluded your people from this. Plus, I can get into her apartment without being seen. So when they come for her, they won’t know I’m waiting to kick them out.’

  Courtney glowered. ‘We could really do with taking them alive.’

  ‘I’m not making any promises.’

  ~~~

  ‘Are you sure you’re going to be okay down here?’ Melissa asked as she walked out of her bathroom. Nava was not quite sure why Melissa had gone in there to change into her nightwear. Then again, Nava was not sure of the purpose of nightwear.

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ Nava replied. ‘I’ve slept in worse conditions than this.’ She was planning to sleep on the bench seat in front of the door. Unless intruders crashed through the window, they were going to have to deal with Nava before they got to Melissa. ‘You really sleep in that?’

  Melissa looked down at her outfit, appeared to realise what she was wearing for the first time, and blushed. She had on a camisole-style T-shirt and a pair of lacy boy shorts in some form of pink. Fuchsia maybe. The shorts did not hide much, but it was probably the shirt which was causing the embarrassment. White with pink trim, it featured lettering in baby blue and pink: KAWAII on the streets SENPAI in the sheets. It was an old meme now, but Nava had no clue what it meant. Well, she had figured out what ‘kawaii’ was, but… ‘What’s “senpai?” I haven’t met that one.’

  Melissa appeared to want to look anywhere aside from where Nava’s face was. ‘It’s, uh, like what you call an upperclassman or anyone more experienced than you.’

  ‘Right. So, that’s cute in public, but you’ve been around the block.’

  ‘It was a present!’

  ‘Is it true?’

  ‘You’re evil!’

  ‘You just figured that out?’

  Melissa giggled. ‘This is like a sleepover. Except we’re expecting to be attacked by masked men intent on doing bad things. It’s like a sleepover in a horror vid. Are you going to just sleep in your uniform? Are you sure you’ll be okay on that seat?’

  ‘I’ll be fine, Mel,’ Nava said patiently. ‘The alternative is that I change into my sleepwear and we share your bed.’

  ‘I wouldn’t really mind–’

  ‘I don’t have any sleepwear. I sleep naked.’

  Melissa’s blush, which had been retreating, launched a sudden retaliatory artillery barrage on her cheeks. Nava wondered briefly whether it was possible for someone’s face to spontaneously combust. ‘Perhaps not then,’ Melissa said, starting for the ladder up to her bed. ‘What would Suki say?’

  ‘This is only a guess, but “Why didn’t you call me?” As for the uniform, I’ll go back to my place before breakfast to shower and change.’

  ‘O-okay.’ Melissa began climbing the ladder and Nava found herself watching her friend’s lace-coated behind all the way up. It was not an unpleasant view in any way, shape, or form. Saying so was probably not a good idea; Nava was unsure how flammable the bedsheets were. ‘Goodnight then, Nava. Turn the lights out when you’re ready.’

  ‘Goodnight, Mel. Sweet dreams.’ Nava settled onto the bench seat and lay down on her back, looking up at the bottom of the storage area. Melissa’s apartment was an identical copy of her own, aside from the contents. There was not really that much difference there either: Melissa came from a world on the outskirts of Clan Worlds space and transporting luggage cost money, so Melissa had brought relatively little with her which needed storing. Melissa had more casual clothes – and things to wear in bed – but those were in the drawers, out of sight.

  In some ways, Melissa was like Nava. Melissa had family, but they were so far away that they might as well not exist. Melissa was not on a grant, as such, but her extended family had put an amount of money aside for her which paid her a regular allowance, so they were in the same boat financially. Of course, their personalities were poles apart and Melissa was a step up on the social ladder, but their circumstances were not that different.

  ‘What a difference a loving family makes,’ Nava thought. Then she put that line of enquiry aside and spoke aloud. ‘Computer, lights off.’

  235/4/6.

  Mumble… ‘No, we can’t!’ Mumble… ‘Nava, no… What would Suki say?’ Mumble… Moan… ‘Oh, Nava…’

  Nava stared up at the dark ceiling and grinned. Inwardly, she grinned. Even in the dark, with no one to see her, she kept her expression flat. She had been hiding her emotions for so long now that it was second nature.

  ‘Oh! You’re here too, Suki?’ Long moan…

  Senpai in the sheets indeed.

  ~~~

  ‘No trouble, I take it?’ Mitsuko asked over breakfast.

  ‘No trouble,’ Nava replied. ‘Well, a little trouble sleeping, to be honest, but it wasn’t too bad. No intruders.’

  ‘Why is Mel blushing like that?’

  ‘Senpai had a little trouble sleeping too. She woke up in the middle of the night. Probably just a nightmare or something.’ Melissa made strangling noises.

  ‘Really? That must have been some nightmare. I want to hear all about it later.’ More strangling noises.

  ‘My lips are sealed,’ Nava s
aid.

  ‘You’re no fun.’

  ‘You just figured that out?’

  ~~~

  Tonight’s shorts were white and the camisole had a cartoon cow on it with ‘Moo’ written beneath the image. The white lace tended to show less of what was underneath than the fuchsia had which might have been Melissa’s intent or pure coincidence.

  ‘What’s a moo?’ Nava asked, pointing vaguely at Melissa’s chest.

  ‘It’s supposed to be the sound a cow makes,’ Melissa replied.

  ‘What’s a cow?’

  ‘You don’t know what a cow is? I mean, I’ve never seen one. They’ve been extinct for centuries aside from a few examples in zoos. They used to be used for food and a few other things and then the Vegan Revolution happened on Earth and all domesticated animals became kind of a luxury. Pigs, cows, chickens, sheep… They were all on the endangered list within a century.’

  ‘You learn something new every day.’

  ‘I’m glad my top is educational.’ Melissa’s face straightened. ‘Do you think they’ll come tonight?’

  ‘I can’t see them waiting much longer.’

  ‘Oh.’ Melissa headed for the ladder. ‘Well, I won’t wish you a good night then. Since it probably won’t be.’

  ‘And I won’t wish you sweet dreams, because we all know where that ends up.’

  Melissa let out a squeak. Nava had checked: the sheets and pillowcases were flame retardant.

  235/4/7.

  The room was in darkness and Nava deepened that darkness by hiding her head under her blankets. She was supposed to be asleep, but there had been worrying signs all day and sleep was refusing to come. The instructors had been watching. The instructors had been having private conversations at the sides of the dojo where they thought they would not be overheard. Nava had, in fact, overheard nothing, but she had come to a conclusion: they would be coming tonight.

  The sound of shoes on the tiled floor came to her. Whoever the shoes belonged to, they were trying to move quietly, stealthily. She detected three pairs of shoes, moving closer by the second. Her body tensed. Were they coming for her? Were they coming for one of the other girls? Who was it this time? Questions which would be unanswered until someone was taken.

  The footsteps fell silent too close to Nava’s slim, metal-framed bed. Was it her turn tonight? Then she heard a muffled sound from about two metres away, the sound of a pressure syringe firing… Maya. They had come for Maya. Inside her mind, Nava realised she was relieved, but at the same time she hated herself for feeling that emotion. She was safe for another night. She was…

  Someone yanked the blankets off her bed…

  Nava bolted upright on the bench seat in Melissa’s apartment. She made no sound, but the lingering unease from the nightmare clung to her and there was cold sweat on her brow. She did not get dreams like that often, but they shook her when they came.

  Swinging her legs down to the floor, Nava stood and went to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face.

  ~~~

  Merle Shepherd Fosse watched his buddy, Jesse Audley Beyer, at work on the lock with some interest. It was hardly the first time he had seen Jesse bypassing the security on an apartment, but the skill with which his friend could do it was really quite remarkable and he did not get to see it every day. It was two fifteen in the morning, so there was no one about to disturb them, but Merle was still making a point of checking the area once in a while to be sure that they were undisturbed.

  There was a soft click as the lock disengaged and the door began to slide open more or less immediately. Merle stepped forward, getting one foot inside just before a hand came out of the dark apartment to strike him in the chest. The combat uniform he was wearing absorbed the force of the punch, but a pulse of light exploding from the impact point marked the application of a spell. Magical force lifted Merle off his feet and threw him bodily out, over the balcony rail and into empty air. Then he was falling.

  Back at the apartment door, Jesse was in the middle of rising to his feet when Nava stepped out of doorway. ‘What?’ Merle got out, and then Nava’s knee slammed into his face. Stunned, he just knelt on the ground while Nava reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. His eyes widened, and then he slumped, falling to the concrete as Nava released him. Nava turned to the rail.

  ‘No!’ Melissa was in the doorway, still in her cow T-shirt and lacy panties. ‘I’ve called Courtney Martell. She’ll be here soon. We need them alive, so you’re not going after the one who fell.’

  For a second, it looked like Nava might start toward the stairs anyway. Then she shrugged. ‘Assuming he’s still alive. That was quite a fall.’

  ‘Well… We can hope. I’ll put some clothes on and then go check.’ Melissa turned to go back inside.

  ‘Thank you, Mel.’

  ‘What for? I should be thanking you for–’

  ‘For stopping me.’

  ‘Oh. That. Well, that’s what friends are for, right?’

  ~~~

  ‘He’s alive,’ Courtney said. ‘Barely, but that should be enough.’

  ‘If he talks,’ Nava said.

  ‘Yeah. If.’

  ‘Who are they?’ Melissa asked.

  Courtney paused for a second, apparently considering her answer, or whether to answer. ‘The dead one is Jesse Audley Beyer. He’s a third year in the support stream. It, uh, seems that he died of shock. His heart gave out. The only physical trauma was a broken nose, so it seems that Nava Ward isn’t responsible for that death.’ Courtney flashed a look at Nava; she was not convinced. ‘The other one is in the same class. Merle Shepherd Fosse.’

  ‘The same clan as Darius. And the same year,’ Melissa said.

  ‘Yes, but that doesn’t necessarily imply a connection.’

  ‘No. Of course not.’

  ‘Interesting coincidence though.’ Courtney looked down at the carton of Crystal Mana pill bottles which were still sitting on the ground where Jesse had left them. Right beside his body, in fact. ‘Merle Shepherd is licensed to use Suggestion. It looks like the idea was to basically tell you to swallow a lot of pills. You’d be dead and I’d have another overdose case. This time, it would seem like you were supplying to people in the Flight Club, and that you were trying to throw us off by implicating Michelle Yamasaki.’

  ‘Do you think you’ll be able to get who’s behind this now?’

  Courtney sighed. ‘I don’t know. It depends on whether we can get that guy to talk. He’s on the line for attempted murder. That might be enough leverage to move him.’

  ‘If you’re having trouble,’ Nava said, ‘I could talk to him.’

  ‘I’d like him alive after the interrogation.’

  ‘I can do that.’ Pause. ‘Does he have to be able to walk?’

  ~~~

  Nava was running a little low on sleep. So was Melissa, though she was doing a little better than Nava having not woken up because of a nightmare before she was woken up by people trying to kill her. Neither of them was entirely awake, and they were contemplating skipping lunch to take a nap.

  That was probably why Nava did not spot Darius Miller until he was already in Melissa’s face. He was a tall, slim man, though not lacking in muscle. His features were mostly derived from northern European stock, tending to a heavier, more rugged type of good looks. He had a strong jawline, a cleft in his chin, a nose with a pronounced bridge, and thin lips. His eyes were a darker shade of blue and his hair was black and kept short. He had paler skin than many humans these days, but there was a slight tan overlaying the white. His height gave him an effective advantage when he wanted to be intimidating. And, right now, he was going for intimidation.

  ‘Melissa Connelly,’ he said as he loomed, ‘I will not stand for this outrageous accusation against my clansman.’

  ‘Wh– Darius Miller? What–’ Melissa shrank somewhat under the sudden onslaught of words and physical presence. Behind her, Rochester began fiddling with his ketcom. ‘What are you t-talking
about?’

  ‘I’m told that you claim Merle Shepherd broke into your apartment last night in order to execute some ridiculous plot involving Crystal Mana. You will withdraw your claim or–’

  Nava stepped between them. She had to look up at Darius, just as Melissa did. She said nothing. Her expression did not change. Darius took a step back, a look of shock registering on his face.

  ‘Nava Ward,’ Darius said after a second. ‘This is none of your–’

  ‘I put Merle Shepherd in the hospital,’ Nava said. ‘Further, I am the principal witness to the activities of Merle Shepherd and Jesse Audley, not Mel. If you’re going to threaten anyone, you should threaten me. I should add that it won’t do you any good, but you’re welcome to try. Especially while you’re being recorded.’

  Possibly for the first time ever, Darius noticed Rochester and, in particular, Rochester’s ketcom which was being held in a position which clearly indicated that the entire scene was being recorded for posterity. Darius’s teeth ground together and he leaned down, possibly trying to lean over Nava to get closer to Melissa. ‘I’ll be bringing this up at the council meeting this afternoon. I will not have a trio of support stream cowards ruin my… I mean my clan’s reputation.’ Turning on his heel, he marched away.

  ‘W-well,’ Melissa said, ‘I d-don’t need that n-nap now.’

  ‘Wait until the adrenaline wears off,’ Nava said. ‘Chess, did you get all that?’

  Rochester was busy checking his recording. ‘To be honest, I missed a little of his threat, but I think there’s enough there to count. Plus, he might have lowered his voice, but I got what he said at the end perfectly.’

  Nava nodded and started on her way to the refectory; they were blocking traffic out of the classroom at it was. ‘We’ll give Suki a copy when we meet her.’

  ‘I can send a copy to Courtney. Those were not the actions of an innocent man.’

  ‘Maybe. Let Suki send the data to Courtney, if she wants to. There’s no point in giving Courtney the opportunity to accuse you of faking evidence.’

  ‘That seems a little harsh,’ Melissa said.