Firewyrm

by Erik Schubach

  Mab and Titania rule as night and day, dark and light, forever equal in power. A balance that has not wavered in millennia. Though they acknowledge that the Fae need the stability of a ruler. So though each woman rules their own court, the Greater Fae as a people must have a definitive ruler. So the two queens trade off every five thousand years, being who the Fae turn to when matters affect both courts.

  The most recent example was when Queen Mab, at the end of her reign, negotiated the inclusion of all the preternatural races on the Leviathan and pledged the aid of the Fae in the construction of the Worldship.

  The first five thousand years of the Exodus flight, the Fae Courts were ruled by the Summer Lady. I remember when I was five and the Leviathan reached the halfway point in her journey, the handover of the mantle back to the Winter Lady. So Mab has the ultimate authority over the Fae until our arrival in the Eridani system. She'll be handing over the mantle back to Titania fifty-three years before planetfall.

  I shook my head sadly at the woman, actually feeling for her. She seemed actually hurt that Mab could jeopardize the Firewyrms. She said they were their babies. Were they born of their combined magics? I said, “Don't count her out yet.”

  Her eyes widened after a moment, realization dawning and I hissed in pain when she was suddenly standing beside my chair, grasping my chin hard enough for me to hear bone starting to crack. She looked at me from side to side, then hissed. “You!” Then she screamed out a growling, hissing shriek, and was gone, leaving me engulfed in flame that was not flame, searing my nerves.

  I sighed and realized that I was shaking as the flames extinguished. She actually scared me more than Mab did, probably because she is supposed to be the more gentle and caring of the Fae Queens, but I haven't seen that yet. She must really hate me for what I did to her psycho son.

  I pulled up a health scan to check for damage, and when a hairline fracture of my jaw was brought up I froze and realized my armor was working again. I looked to the wall that was mirrored again to see me in my armor. Titania had burned away the glamour!

  The door slammed open and half a dozen heavily armed Enforcers streamed into the room with Commander Reise in the lead as he blustered at me, “Shade! What the fleeking hells? Where's Queen Mab? Where have you been?”

  I held my hands up looking at the weapons swinging around in my direction. “Hey hey hey! Mab's tits guys, I'm one of you!” The commander made a hand motion and they lowered their weapons as Keller moved into the crowded room.

  They all looked around like maybe Mab was hiding under a chair leg or something as I said, “Mab glamoured and gaesed me to fool everyone into thinking I was her while she went to investigate on her own. Titania was just here to talk to Mab when she realized I wasn't her, she burned off the glamour. I can still feel the gaes, but once you know who I am, I'm free to talk as me again.”

  Keller asked as he towered over even the commander, “The Summer Lady was here?”

  I nodded. “She can apparently teleport.” Then I looked at Reise. “Now can I please get the hells out of here so we can investigate this? There's a lot more to this than meets the eye.”

  He huffed, his nostrils flaring. “We need to debrief you as...”

  I cocked an eyebrow and prompted, right on the edge of insubordination, “Mother and I will write a report up as I investigate as I was ordered to by President Yang herself.” Reminding him of the meeting last night, not that I thought he would forget meeting with the President and a Fae queen.

  The man nodded slowly. “When all of this is over, we're going to have a long talk in my office, Shade.”

  Yup, I pushed too far. Maybe I shouldn't have disobeyed in front of all these other Enforcers. I'm pretty sure I'll never learn, self-preservation seems to be an afterthought for me lately. The others seemed in shock how a mere human was talking to the commander.

  I pushed past them all and told Daniel as I passed, “Can you get to Beta-B? There's something I want you to check on. I'm heading back to Alpha-B to verify the same. I'll have Mother fill you in when you get there.”

  He nodded and headed off the opposite direction. I had to get my Tac-Bike from Stacks. “Mother?”

  She chirped in my head like she was relieved to hear from me. “I've disengaged the mag-lock and your Tac-Bike will meet us at the doors.”

  I prodded the bear, “Thanks, you've always got my back... except in there.”

  She actually pouted. “Mab cheated, my sensors were all fooled by her spells.”

  I snorted and cut her some slack, “It's ok, I still love you.” She made a pleased sound and I prompted, “Shall we?”

  “We shall.” And she started playing a composition called Short Skirt Long Jacket by a group called Cake.

  Chapter 7 – Human

  By the time we arrived at Alpha-B, I had already contacted Aurora, to let her know I was out. She chuckled at how put out I was about her abandoning me there. She sounded demure as she said, “I was coming back for you.”

  I asked, “Did you know that your mother and the Summer Lady had Firewyrms on the world?”

  There was a pregnant pause before she asked, “Isn't it my turn to ask a question, Knith?”

  I deadpanned. “The answer to that question is, yes. My turn.”

  She giggled over coms and accused, “You have to be Fae, you play this game a little too well.”

  “Don't deflect, did you know?”

  “I am the Winter Maiden,” she stated in answer.

  I nodded to myself as Mother whispered in my head, “That wasn't an answer.”

  With a smirk I said out loud, “Actually it was an unspoken confirmation. And why are you whispering? Rory can't hear you in my head.”

  Ever swift on the uptake, the Fae princess teased. “Is that Mother? You don't have to pretend around me. I think it is wonderful if you are evolving, your secret is safe with me, and I cannot lie.”

  It was amazing how quickly Mother clammed up.

  As I stepped up to the bike, I almost jumped out of my skin when Graz said from beside me, “So, where we headin', Knith? Ol' Mab really laid a whammy on you that time, didn't she?”

  “Mother fairy humper! Would everyone stop sneaking up on me?” Then I looked at her as she buzzed up in front of my nose. “What are you doing here?”

  She shrugged. “Mother filled me in on what was happening once the dumb tin can figured out you were you and not not you.”

  Mother huffed, defending weakly, “She was spelled.”

  Graz grinned at her needling, then said, “I figured you'd need backup.”

  “I don't need...”

  “You got yourself landed in custody before you even started, you dumb big.”

  “Fair enough. But you're a civilian, and it could be dangerous, you haven't even requested a ride-along.”

  She shrugged and flew into my helmet before I sent the mental command for the visor to shut. “Like you said, I'm a civilian and I'm free to go wherever I want. Sue me.”

  I exhaled, knowing it was useless to try to argue with her, or Mother, or Rory... was there anyone on the world who listened to anything I said?

  Then she asked, “So hey, does the Brigade let Sprites join? I mean, I'm doin' your job for you and not getting paid.”

  I snorted as I fired up the bike and shot out into traffic, and slid into the emergency vehicle lane just above the street level vessels before kicking in the afterburners with my Enforcer lights flashing. Abuse of power, I know, but I had already lost the better part of a day in my investigation, the trail was getting cold.

  “You're freeloading at my place with your entire family, that's pay enough.”

  “You owe me.”

  I sputtered, “In what world do I owe you?”

  “Hey, you're the one who got me evicted with all your finger-pointing and 'don't break the law' stuff. Mab's tits, woman, how's an honest Sprite supposed to survive?”

  I sighed. �
��Would you rather I had brought you in on pilfering charges?”

  I could hear her grin next to my ear where she was holding onto my hair when I did a corkscrew maneuver to dive into the spoke heading down-ring to the Trunk. The little flying pest got a kick out of getting a rise from people. Then she free-floated in front of my face to spin to look out the visor in the virtually zero-G environment of the Trunk.

  “Burning fairy farts, Knith, do you have a death wish?”

  What? I was only at three-quarters throttle as we ripped past the afternoon traffic. If it was rush hour, I wouldn't be opening the bike up so much.

  Then as I performed another corkscrew maneuver to send us rocketing up an Alpha-Stack spoke, I furrowed my brow and shared, “You wouldn't be able to become an enforcer. Most of the smaller races can't, and humans can barely qualify.”

  Before she could squeak her indignation at me, Mother shared with her, “It has to do with the physical requirements. You have to be able to lift or drag a body and move it to safety, and some residents, like the Centaurs and Minotaurs, weigh around seven hundred pounds.”

  I added, “Even with the help of the servos in my armor, I was barely able to qualify for that, and I'm stronger than most humans. But there are always exceptions... believe it or not, there are two leprechauns in the Brigade. One has an exo-assist skeleton like Mac has, since she comes from a D-Ring. The other, Shamus... we're still not sure how he passed. I suspect shenanigans.”

  I smirked and shared my suspicion, “He likely greased some palms with part of his treasure hoard. I still don't know why he wants to be an Enforcer, he's a gruff man who seems happy patrolling the trunk and D-Ring.”

  Graz pouted. “That's discrimination. I'm height-challenged and can't lift a stupid Big, so I can't join?”

  I gave an apologetic grin. “There are other physical requirements. Not to mention I don't think they can even make scatter armor small enough to fit you, not to mention accommodating your wings.”

  She looked into one of my internal helmet cams, screwed up her face, and said, “She's just makin' shit up now.”

  Mother chuckled at her.

  Graz said as we buzzed past the first two Spoke Terminals heading to our exit at the third, “But I can do things and fit in places none of the big clumsy Enforcers can.”

  I nodded. “Fair point.” Then I smirked. “But since you can't fill out the simple form to request an official ride-along, I can't see you filling out the other forms required just to apply.”

  Mother and I chuckled as our Sprite friend squeaked out, “I hate you both,” I tilted my head, covering her in my hair as a pseudo-hug.

  Then she was screaming, “Ahhhhhhhhhh!” splatted up against my visor as I executed a final corkscrewing, maneuver to put us into the emergency vehicle lanes in the B-Ring and just kept corkscrewing.

  I tried to hide my grin as I slowed to normal traffic speeds and stopped our rotation while lowering to ground level. She spun and glared at me. “A little warning?”

  Placing a hand on my chest as we flew along, I mocked surprise, “Did you just call yourself little?”

  “What? No! You're asking for a whupping!”

  I grinned and said, “Hush, I've got work to do. Mother, can you review the last six months footage of the foot traffic here in Bulkhead J, next to the Skin. Isolate any footage with Mab. Do a similar review for Beta-Stack-B in the same region and forward it to Lieutenant Keller? Tell him to investigate any area Mab frequents there, please?”

  “On it, Knith.” Then she paused. “You're looking for the Firewyrm pens. But I can tell you there are no such pens on the world. My scans are conclusive.”

  “Yes, but Summer and Winter are hiding them somewhere.”

  She seemed to contemplate it then asked, “Shall I look for Queen Titania in the same area?”

  I shook my head. “No... she can teleport as she has demonstrated frequently. Depending on her range, she could be anywhere when she visits the pens.”

  She seemed put out I wasn't just taking her word that there were no pens, and she offered instead, “The most likely location for the Firewyrm pens are in the palaces since I'm not allowed to scan there, nor follow any of the Greater Fae inside of them.”

  I countered, “I doubt it because all the damage was done down here in B. I'd wager a month's food stipend that the pen is close to where we found Ember.” That made me ask, “The crime scene techs and fire marshal should already have detailed reports in. Where did the fires start?”

  The instant response was, “Airlock B-38 Slash A. Data shows explosive decompression in the area for seven seconds until blast doors were sealed, but the fire had spread into the corridor by then.”

  “Do we have video?”

  “Too much magic interference. Three seconds of audio.” She played it and it sounded like a fire tornado... or like a young animal in distress...

  I contemplated it. “The explosive decompression should have sucked the fire into space, but instead it moved into the corridors before the blast doors could contain it? It was Ember... any casualties reported from the decompression?”

  Relief spread when she said, “There weren't many people in J when it occurred, five minor injuries and ten cases of smoke inhalation.” Thank whoever is watching over us that nobody was spaced.

  Thinking about the scorched hull I saw on the Skin from space, I asked. “Point of ignition? Inside or outside the airlock door?”

  “Indeterminate, it was melted into slag.”

  Then I asked, “What Airlock had I come in when we responded to the emergency?”

  “Airlock B-37 Slash A”

  Counter-rotation... one section, that scorching was near the other airlock. I stopped the Tac-Bike at the scene of the fire and mag locked it as I got off and raised my visor. Engineers and construction crews were already removing the rubble and damaged portions of the decking.

  How could one frightened being do all of this damage inadvertently? I understood why no fire beings were allowed passage if this was all simply a tragic accident. I could imagine if Ember had really been on a rampage. But what is done is done, she's on the world now.

  The answer to my next question took me by surprise. “Can you display the hull damage by that airlock? I got a good look as we were coming in.” She played back my visual records and all I saw was some blackening around the airlock near the one we docked at... there was no long scorched area.

  I re-specified, “No I need the footage from when Myra flew me over to Alpha-Stack.”

  “This is that footage.”

  I pointed in the air at the display in my vision. “No, there was heavy scorching on the armor plating for at least forty feet or more.”

  She assured me, “I detected no evidence of this, and these are the visual records.”

  My suspicion was putting things together. Few things could cause such an aberration in Mother's records, magic being at the very top of that list. Something was affecting her sensors and even visual records of that area of the hull. Smirking I asked, “I assume you've isolated Mab's visits, and they were in the vicinity of Airlock B-38 Slash A?”

  I did a double-take at Graz's smug look as she hovered in front of me. “What?”

  “She ain't gonna find any sign of Mab. She'd never willingly go into Summer Court territory. That's just...”

  Mother interrupted, “I have multiple occasions of the Winter Lady in Alpha-B Bulkhead-J corridors. It seems she goes there every Friday afternoon before sensors in the area are interrupted. An hour later, when video and sensors are restored, she leaves the area.”

  Graz's mouth worked like a fish out of water. I brought a finger up to gently close her mouth as it hung open.

  I nodded and asked, “Same thing in Beta-Stack?”

  “Yes. Always Friday, and we lose sensor records for an hour.”

  Graz was catching on, even though she couldn't believe Mab would go willingly into the rival cour
t's territory. Titania had done that just to attend her son's spacing, but I cannot remember any other time that she was reported in Beta-Stack... other than her appearance in the interrogation room today.

  My dust sifting sidekick said, “I suppose the Summer Lady does something similar?”

  I shook my head before Mother said, “Negative.”

  Putting a hand palm up for her to land on as I headed to the barricades. “Titania can teleport, so she probably never shows up outside of her palace unless she wants to be seen.” I wondered why Mab couldn't teleport.

  I shared with the class, though I knew Mother had already figure it out too. “I'm sure that we'll find the hidden firewyrm pens by those airlocks.”

  I scrolled through the emergency repair logs to see that the hull breach had been sealed with a breach dome until the engineers determined what was needed to repair the airlock. So the sealed areas were open.

  By the time I badged myself through the demolition zone and we picked our way back to Bulkhead J, I was putting together the next steps in the investigation since I was already positive of what we would find, or rather, not find. As much as it terrified me, I needed to get out on the Skin to examine that scorched area.

  Sure enough, I studied the ship's schematics as we arrived at the damaged airlock. Even ceramic surfaces in the area were burned to dust. Ember packed a hell of a hot magical punch. About forty feet down the corridor, I found a door that wasn't on the plans. I prompted, “What's behind this door? Mother?”

  In unison, Mother and Graz asked as if I had a screw loose, “What door?” It was hard for me to focus on too, so I assumed it was under one hell of a don't look here spell. And I could feel power coming off the door and knew it was heavily warded, even more so than the palace wards at the two courts.

  I pushed on the wards, my scatter armor sparked brightly, and I wound up blinking and groaning in pain when I found myself almost embedded in the wall at the opposite side of the corridor. Yup, they packed a wallop all right. I said weakly, “Ow.”

  The workers in the area came rushing over. I held a halting hand up. “I'm ok.” Then as an afterthought, I asked, “What do you see right there?”