‘Good luck, Lieutenant.’
Fawn closed her ketcom’s screen and picked up Maya’s rifle.
~~~
Nava cancelled her invisibility spell right after she had made sure that all of the terrorists were dead. A young adult in SAS2 uniform appearing on the stage amid the carnage was, apparently, something of a surprise. She figured the hostages had expected someone from the ASF, likely a marine specialist or something, to be the one who had dispatched fifteen armed men in under two minutes and with absolutely no sign of mercy.
Oliver Barnes overcame his paralysis as Nava walked toward the hostages. ‘You did all this?’
‘You see anyone else here?’ Nava asked.
‘We didn’t see you either.’
It was a valid point. ‘Please wait in this room until I’ve taken care of their tank. The ASF will deal with things after that.’
‘But you’re just a schoolgirl! That’s the SAS-squared uniform, isn’t it?’
Nava glanced down at the logo on her left breast and then back up at Oliver. ‘What can I say? The school provides an excellent educational service.’ She walked on past the hostages, heading for the back of the theatre, and was invisible again before she reached the door.
‘We just might have to increase their budget next year,’ Oliver muttered, mostly to himself.
‘That would be most appreciated, Assemblyman,’ Auberon said with a smile, though his eyes were on the spot where Nava had vanished.
~~~
Another grenade outside the door finally caused it to give way. It bounced against the force wall behind it and then fell outward. A burst of three bullets hit the wall and it shattered, letting the last two bullets pass through to embed themselves in the wall at the back. Through the door, the man who had fired became visible.
Fawn put three rounds into the man’s chest from her rifle, pushing him back across the corridor. He clutched at his chest, wincing, but he did not go down. That was when Courtney hit him with Concussive Force. She was not holding back either. The terrorist’s chest was turned into a most un-chest-like shape against the wall and he folded very unnaturally as he fell to the floor.
‘Not much point in me shooting him,’ Fawn grumbled. Louder, she added, ‘He won’t be all of them.’
Almost as if they had heard her, another Befreit operative appeared in the doorway, two more behind him. Kyle thrust out a hand and the man reeled backward, bumping into his two friends and then collapsing onto the ground; a punch in the face, even a telekinetic one, will do that. Another of them was slammed across the corridor, sliding down to lie beside his crushed compatriot, but the third managed to get his rifle up to fire, just as Melissa threw a new wall up across the doorway. It shattered on the first round but losing sight of his targets before he could fire meant his spray of bullets went high. Darius provided the return attack, a Slice spell that almost cut the man in two from right hip to left shoulder.
‘Four more,’ Rochester said. ‘One’s pulling a grenade.’
Mitsuko jumped to her feet, pointing at Melissa. ‘Wall up after I fire!’ She ducked out through the door, raising her arm. The four remaining combatants were about five metres away. She could see one of them holding a cylinder, his finger hooked through a ring attached to it. A standard fragmentation grenade, in all probability. Mitsuko fired off a burst of red-orange light and then threw herself back into the room. Fire roared past the doorway, hot gas licking at Mitsuko’s feet. She had her Armour spell active, however, and could not feel it.
Melissa raised another wall almost immediately, though she was not quite sure why. The fire was already gone and surely the men had to be at least unconscious after that fireball. She was just about to ask why Mitsuko had asked for it when the grenade went off outside. Metal fragments peppered the corridor, two of them hitting the wall. The energy field collapsed again, but it had done its job: neither the blast nor the fragmentation had made it into the room.
‘Um, I’m not going out there for now,’ Melissa said. ‘At least, if I do, someone will have to lead me since I’ll have my eyes closed.’
‘Problem with blood?’ Fawn asked.
‘Uh, yes.’
‘Nothing to be ashamed of. I used to be the same.’ She looked out through the open door at the torn and shattered bodies. ‘Of course, I got over it after a while.’
~~~
The tank was big. Nava came up to its knees and it barely fitted into the lobby, even though this floor had a higher than usual ceiling. The big, black, spiderlike monstrosity sat there, waiting. Nothing moved unless it spotted something outside, and then one of its numerous weapons would track the target. If it spotted Nava, it would open fire with overwhelming firepower.
Except that she was invisible, and its radar was going to be no use in pinpointing the source of a magical attack. The lobby came with various pillars to hide behind too, though the tank had demolished a couple of them getting in. Nava wondered absently whether the thing was dumb enough to drop the building on its own head. People would probably be happier if she killed the thing without so much collateral damage. Might as well get started.
Nava moved out from behind a pillar and launched Magic Burst at the tank. Then she bolted for the cover of another pillar. The tank’s armour was thick and the spell’s penetrator didn’t ignore armour. It had a high penetration factor, but armour could be too thick for it. The spell detonated outside the tank, a bloom of white expanding out from the side of its hull. Nava was out of reach of the quintessence explosion and the tank’s armour was too thick. Except that it was now a little thinner having been corroded at the subatomic level by Nava’s magic.
Another pulse of light lanced out, striking the robot and then exploding into a sphere. The tank picked a response this time and began to fire. Four of its turrets sprayed bullets across virtually the entire area of the lobby behind the metal spider. Behind one of the pillars, Nava kept her head down and waited for it to stop. There was no stopping, but there was a change in sound: the sounds of motors operating and massive feet hitting the floor. It was moving. It had visual sensors where its head would have been, and it was hoping that it could spot where she was with those. Turning would also bring those front-mounted cannons around, allowing the robot to blow her up.
Timing her move for when the robot’s field of fire was off her, Nava moved out of cover, fired, and ran right across the lobby, ahead of the tank’s visual arc as it turned. Another sphere of white blossomed, followed by a far more normal explosion as the tank blasted a hole in part of the building in an attempt to hit something. Shrapnel hit Nava’s armour and she rolled from behind a pillar, firing her Magic Blast one more time.
This time, the light pulse vanished in through the depleted armour and the spell detonated inside the tank. It jerked as though someone had hit it with the biggest rolled-up newspaper ever, staggering back a step and demolishing another of the support pillars in the process. Then its hull hit the floor as its legs gave out, and the massive autonomous killing machine stopped. There were no twitching gun turrets or lights which slowly died before coming back as it jerked into a final attempt to strike its prey. It stopped. And Nava turned for the inner door without saying a word.
Epilogue
Alliance City, Shinden, Clan Worlds Alliance, 235/8/16.
They had had to move the venue – because the existing one was a bit of a mess and still had the corpse of a spider tank in the lobby – but the organisers of the symposium managed to get together a reduced set of panels for the delegates who could still be bothered to go to them. They also arranged for the closing banquet to take place too. A few more people attended that than the panels.
Mitsuko stood at one side of the hall, turning down offers to dance. Nearby, Melissa was doing the same with more embarrassment. That was partially because her boyfriend was standing right beside her, and partially because this was Melissa. Courtney and Kyle were somewhere around, possibly dancing while they could. Darius had already re
turned to SAS2.
Nava… Nava was not there. She had been taken away in a helicopter by Fawn the previous afternoon. Both of them were going to undergo debriefing, apparently. There had been no word from either of them since. Mitsuko’s attempts to contact them had been blocked and she could get no straight answer about where they were.
‘Do you two want to come back to the mansion with me tomorrow?’ Mitsuko asked, apparently out of nowhere.
‘I d-don’t have any other plans…’ Melissa replied.
‘Same,’ Rochester added.
‘So, if you don’t mind the company, I guess we’ll say yes.’
‘I want the company,’ Mitsuko said.
‘She’ll be back. In fact, I think she’ll turn up wherever you are when she does, so being with you is an even better idea.’
‘You have an amazing ability to maintain a positive attitude, Mel. I envy you that.’
‘No, I have an amazing ability to look like I’m positive. But, this time, I am. She’ll be back.’
Mitsuko flashed a grin and pushed herself away from the wall. ‘I’m heading back to the apartment. I’m really not in the mood for this.’
‘We’ll come with you,’ Rochester said.
‘Yeah,’ Melissa agreed. ‘Neither of us are ever really in the mood for something like this.’
‘Then why did you come?’ Mitsuko asked.
‘Seemed like the right thing to do…’
Trenton Mansion, 235/8/17.
Lunch was happening in a somewhat stiff atmosphere. There was an empty chair beside Mitsuko which just seemed to exude the need for Nava to be in it. Michiko had asked about Nava once, been told that she was helping the ASF, and had then decided that further mentioning the missing girl would be insensitive. Michiko was, as she would tell you, a precocious child.
She did, however, want to hear at least some of what had happened at the symposium. So, she was getting an edited version. Melissa, who was one of the ones telling the story, would have edited it more if it were one of her relatives she was talking to. Michiko seemed able to handle a few truths that Melissa herself would not have at that age.
‘Was it scary when the men came to get you?’ Michiko asked.
‘Well, yes,’ Melissa replied since it seemed to be her that was being asked. ‘Of course it was…’ She trailed off and then frowned. Michiko waited patiently for her to continue. ‘You know, I wasn’t scared until after. I was nervous. I’m a nervous kind of woman, Michiko. I’m sure you’ve noticed.’
‘You used to be.’
‘I still am when I don’t know people. So, I was nervous, but I wasn’t afraid. I mean, we had a trained marine and four combat magicians. Suki may only be a first year, but she’s got power. You should’ve seen the Fire Blast she used. Courtney, Kyle, and Darius are older, so they knew what they were doing and they’re all powerful enough in their own rights. Those soldiers didn’t know what they were messing with. So, it wasn’t that scary.’
‘Don’t sell yourself short, Mel,’ Mitsuko said. ‘Or Chess. Your spells kept them out until they brought in explosives. Chess provided the intel we needed to protect ourselves and counterattack.’
‘We were just doing what we usually do in tactics classes,’ Rochester said. ‘I scout, Mel blocks, and–’
‘And Nava takes out the opposing team without breaking a sweat,’ Mitsuko finished for him since he did not seem to want to.
‘That. Yes.’
Michiko watched the little exchange and then appeared to hesitate before asking a question. ‘Did Nava really kill a tank on her own?’
‘Yes,’ Zackery Trenton said to his youngest daughter. ‘I’ve seen the initial report. It’s quite clear that Nava was able to destroy an armoured robot tank, singlehanded.’ He glanced at Mitsuko. ‘Is this the second or third time she’s saved your life, Suki?’
‘Depends how you count it. Third, I think.’
‘Do you think you could possibly manage to go the rest of the year without needing to be saved?’ Yuzuki asked.
‘I’ll try, Mother,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘I really will. But I’m not making any promises.’
~~~
‘So, how much of Nava’s backstory did you know when we had our little chat back in May?’ Mitsuko had managed to get her mother alone and was finally getting to ask the question which had been worrying at her since Nava had told them what she was.
Yuzuki looked at her daughter for a second or two and then went back to carefully arranging flowers in a vase. ‘Death’s Handmaiden? The connection to the Redwings? Her ancestry?’ Yuzuki asked.
‘All of that.’
‘When you took up with her, we naturally had the Greylings look into her background. It took them a surprising amount of time to get all of it, but we think they did.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘We weren’t supposed to know, Suki. We knew that she wouldn’t tell you unless you needed to be told for some reason, because she had been told not to tell anyone. The Greylings are satisfied that she has no ties to the Redwings. Did she tell you that she slaughtered more or less everyone in the base on Earth?’
‘Well, Fawn Tyrell told us that part, but yes. She told us about her genetics too. That she’s not human.’
‘Does that bother you?’
‘Should it?’
Yuzuki turned and gave her daughter a smile. ‘I don’t believe it should, no. What “human” is has been a moving target for thousands of years.’ Her face straightened. ‘The issue is more to do with what Nava actually is. She’s a template for a more powerful sorceress. If that becomes widely known…’
Mitsuko nodded. ‘Yeah. That could turn out to be a problem. The Redwings won’t give up either.’
‘No, I don’t suppose they will, but they’ve been dealt a severe blow here on Shinden. Much of their operational cell on this world has been wiped out thanks to Nava and the ASF. That’s what I’m told, anyway. For the time being, you should be safe from them here. And you did promise to stay out of trouble for a while…’
‘I did not,’ Mitsuko said. ‘I said I’d try. I very explicitly avoided promising anything. It’s not like I had much control over the trouble I’ve got into so far this year.’ She grinned. ‘I promise not to go looking for trouble, but if it comes looking for me, all bets are off.’
Yuzuki sighed. ‘I suppose it’s all we can ask for…’
~~~
A military tiltrotor dropped lightly in to land on the mansion’s pad. The wind from its rotors blew Mitsuko’s hair into her face and she was briefly jealous of Melissa’s shorter style. The blades did not stop, but a door opened in the side of the vehicle and, a second later, Nava was dropping to the concrete and then rushing across to where her friends were waiting. She paused briefly, turning to wave back toward the craft’s cabin. The tiltrotor was returning to the air as Nava continued on toward her reception party.
‘I wasn’t entirely sure you were coming back,’ Mitsuko said as Nava approached.
‘Of course I was,’ Nava replied as though there had never been any doubt about it. ‘They wanted to go over what I knew about the other possible survivors. Not that I could tell them much. Even the descriptions were probably wrong. Maya used to have beautiful, long, blonde hair. Anyway, I’m here. There’s nothing to worry about.’
‘There is,’ Melissa said, though she was grinning. ‘Now that you’re back, Suki’s going to suggest we spend the rest of the evening in the baths.’
‘It’s only about half past seven. If we spend all night in there, we’ll all turn wrinkly. Oh, I’m going to need some clothes from somewhere. I don’t suppose you guys brought my luggage from Alliance City?’
‘We did,’ Mitsuko said, ‘and I’ve had it all laundered, but you don’t really need to worry about it for now.’ She turned, starting toward the house.
‘Uh, why not?’
‘Oh, Nava… If you think I’m letting you wear anything at all before lunch tomorrow, you’re fa
r more naïve than I thought.’
###
About the Author
I was born in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall so perhaps a bit of history rubbed off. Ancient history obviously, and border history, right on the edge of the Empire. I always preferred the Dark Ages anyway; there’s so much more room for imagination when people aren’t writing down every last detail. So my idea of a good fantasy novel involved dirt and leather, not shining plate armour and Hollywood-medieval manners. The same applies to my sci-fi, really; I prefer gritty over shiny.
Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.
I got into writing through roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote science fiction when I was playing Traveller. I wrote “high fantasy” when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a lot of superhero fiction when I was playing City of Heroes. I still love the idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories, as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.
Recently I took the big step of quitting my day job and taking up full-time writing. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, J.D. Robb, and Kim Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan, back in school, several decades ago.
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