Wildfire and Steel

by J. J. Green

  “Carina,” Bryce called.

  She gripped the handlebars that lined the bulkhead and pulled herself into the pilot’s cabin. Bryce was hanging over the controls, droplets of blood suspended in a cloud around his head.

  “It’s gone,” he said. “The destroyer that arrived first. It’s been blown to bits.”

  “So that’s what happened,” said Carina. “The Sherrerr ship finally fired back. The debris hit us.”

  A warning flashed on the console display and at the same time yet another alarm began to wail. Carina cursed. The shuttle was leaking atmosphere.

  “As if we don’t have enough problems.” Carina swept the interface with her fingers, bringing up the site of the leak. The shuttle should auto repair, but she wanted to check that it was. “Shit.” The vessel hadn’t been alerting them to a leak, but leaks. The impact of the exploded ship’s debris had riddled them full of holes. It was a miracle no one had been hit.

  Carina hoped that the Sherrerr ship intended to pick them up quickly. They were losing air so fast, if it didn’t they were dead.

  She devoted the shuttle’s remaining power to atmosphere generation to try to match the loss, or they would all be unconscious in minutes. Meanwhile, she briefed the others on what to do if they were boarded. She hadn’t given up on her idea of taking over the enemy ship.

  A comm arrived. “Unidentified shuttle prepare to be boarded.”

  It was odd that the other ship also hadn’t identified itself. Carina would have expected a Sherrerr vessel to state its affiliation.

  “Are you ready, everyone?” Carina asked.

  Darius was going to lead their defense, Enthralling whoever came through the hatch. Then they would have an indefinite amount of time to ‘persuade’ the Enthralled to give up their weapons and take them to their ship’s bridge.

  It wouldn’t be easy, but they really might be able to do it.

  Carina floated on one side of the hatch, waiting. Bryce waited on the other side. The children clung to the backs of seats, doing their best to hide. Darius peaked around his seat, looking nervous.

  The hatch lock released and the portal opened.

  Carina gave Darius a nod. He nodded back and swallowed elixir before shutting his eyes. People emerged through the shuttle entrance.

  Now, Darius.

  Her brother cried out and jerked backward, as if impacted by an unseen force.

  Carina reeled in shock. What was going on? Who had Repulsed Darius’ Cast? Had Castiel returned to the Sherrerrs?

  Bryce propelled himself into the side of one of the boarders, sending the man careening into the others. Carina also pushed off the wall and dove into the melee. She tried to wrest a weapon from its owner’s grip. Carina was battling the assailants, spinning in the zero-g.

  Suddenly, Carina found herself looking down the wrong end of a muzzle. A curse formed on her lips but she didn’t have time to utter it before she was knocked out.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Castiel stood in the bright Ostillonian sunlight, hot and angry. Standing on the balcony of a building in the Ostillonian capital, he took a swig of elixir. He concentrated on writing the Transport character, then sent out the Cast toward the roof of a collapsed house. The roof lifted, shedding dust and fragments of plaster, drifted out into the street, and fell to the road with a crash.

  Bystanders who had been near the spot where the shattered roof had landed hastily scattered, looking up at Castiel in fear.

  He didn’t care what the people thought of him. They shouldn’t have been standing so near the damaged building. He wished he could Cast some kind of pain or misfortune at them.

  Sable had set him the task of helping with the clearing of destroyed and unsafe buildings in the city. When she’d made her request, she’d been extremely flattering, telling him how invaluable his services would be and how much recognition and gratitude he would receive. He’d thought she’d meant recognition and gratitude from the high-ranking Dirksens. Now he understood that in fact she’d meant the people of Ostillon.

  What did he care what the lowly folk of that planet thought of him? If he cared anything at all about their feelings, he would have preferred to have their fear and respect, not their gratitude.

  It hadn’t taken him weeks to realize it had all been a trick. Sable had sidelined him just as smoothly as Langley had, if not more so. At least Langley had arranged for him to have a hand in defeating the Sherrerr attack. Sable seemed intent on making him some kind of glorified janitor or handyman.

  It was ridiculous, and he was determined to do something about it. If approaching the head of the clan hadn’t worked to elevate his status, he would have to take more drastic measures.

  Only he hadn’t decided exactly what just yet.

  Castiel left the balcony and climbed the stairs to the roof, where a hover vehicle awaited him. He had a few more tasks to complete that day. Though he was loath to do them, he thought he might as well and spend the time figuring out his next steps. It never hurt to practice Casting.

  He climbed into the vehicle, and the driver lifted them up over the city. It was indeed a devastated place. Parts of the metropolis had been entirely razed by the Sherrerr attack. In other places great craters opened like wounds, surrounded by charred remains of buildings. The amount of work required to restore the once-thriving capital would be enormous. But it was not his problem.

  Castiel recalled the conversation he’d had with Sable in the great hall of her mountain castle the previous evening. He’d tried every well-mannered tactic he could think of to persuade the woman to expand her use of his abilities, but she’d managed to rebuff each point he’d made.

  We’re devoting our efforts to recuperation and planning at the moment, Sable had said. When the time is right, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the council. I’m sure they will suggest other roles you can play. We need to understand better what you can do and figure out how to fit you into our advancement and expansion. Have some patience, Castiel. Your moment to shine will come.

  It had all sounded reassuring, but Sable had been careful to never mention exactly when his moment would come. He wasn’t dumb. He knew he was being put off, perhaps indefinitely. Did she fear his powers? He guessed so. Most people did.

  The hover vehicle alighted in a street. The place looked like it had been a poor, derelict area even before it had suffered the Sherrerr bombardment. Castiel’s task was to demolish an apartment block that had received a direct hit. Half of the building was torn away and the other half was leaning at a dangerous angle.

  Castiel looked up at the broken rooms, their contents revealed to the world. Clothes hung from the torn floors. Wall decorations fluttered in the breeze. On the second floor, a corpse sat in a bathtub, a look of surprise on its rotting face.

  “Ugh, disgusting,” Castiel said.

  His driver didn’t answer.

  There was a knock on Castiel’s window. A little girl was standing there, her face and clothes filthy and her hair a tangle of knots.

  “Have you come to rescue my grandpa?” the girl asked, though her voice was muffled by the glass.

  Castiel looked down at her rags and then up at her face once more before turning his head away pointedly. The little girl rubbed her eyes and wandered to the rear of the vehicle.

  “Please move farther down the street,” he instructed the driver.

  “The exhaust may burn the child,” the driver replied.

  “And?” asked Castiel.

  The driver opened his door and climbed out.

  “My grandpa’s stuck in there,” said the girl, pointing at the precarious apartment block. “Can you get him out, please?”

  The driver shooed her away. He returned to his seat and moved the vehicle another ten meters along the street.

  “If the man’s been in that building all this time, he must be dead by now,” Castiel said, half to himself. He wasn’t a law enforcement officer or a splicer. If Sable had wanted to have people rescue
d, she should have sent someone else.

  He swigged his elixir, wrote the Break character, and delivered the Cast to the building remains. The structure began to rumble and shake. The little girl stared at it and screamed. Bricks and concrete began to shatter and fall, and just in time the girl sped out of the way.

  Castiel watched the slow, sliding collapse of walls, rooms, and apartments into the street. Clouds of dust rose, obscuring the demolished site. As the dust began to settle, Castiel looked with pleasure on the pile of rubble that now blocked the street. Only hover vehicles would be able to traverse it. The girl was nowhere to be seen.

  Perhaps he should have done a better job. He could Transport some of the rubble away and create a gap. But he would not. If Sable wouldn’t bend to persuasion, perhaps he could show enough apparent incompetence to be assigned to different duties. Even doing nothing would be better than his current work.

  He’d been cooperative, but maybe the time for being cooperative was over. Sable had seen what he was capable of when he killed Tremoille. She should be more careful about how she treated him, especially if she refused to allow him to rise in the clan. Someone who has nothing, has nothing to lose.

  That was the answer. No more playing nice. He would return to the mountain castle and lay it on the line for Sable. Either she would give him a position worthy of his abilities or he would use them against her.

  “Take me back to the headquarters,” Castiel told the driver.

  “I thought we had more assignments, sir,” the man said.

  “Don’t talk back,” Castiel yelled. “Do as you’re told.”

  Immediately, the vehicle lifted up from the dusty street. When they were high above the capital, the driver turned and flew them in the direction of the mountains.

  ***

  As the vehicle landed inside the mountain castle, Castiel opened the door and stepped out, intent on confronting Sable. She might be the head of the Dirksen clan, but she was still only one woman, and a young one at that. She was an ordinary human being, while he was a mage. She would listen to him or she would suffer for it.

  He strode into the great hall. The stone chair was empty as always, but so was Sable’s usual seat by the fire, where she would conduct her business via interface or in person. And the fire was out, as if she hadn’t been there all day.

  A servant who had been cleaning the hall when Castiel entered it, hurried toward an exit.

  “Hey, you” Castiel shouted. “Where is Madam Dirksen?”

  “I don’t know, sir. The mistress left this morning, not long after yourself.”

  Castiel cursed. He didn’t know how to contact her. She hadn’t shown him enough respect to tell him. Her disregard for him really was unbearable.

  While he hesitated, wondering what to do, Castiel’s interface chirruped. He’d received a message. He pulled out the device and read it. The message was from Sable. How had she found out where he was so soon?

  I see you’ve returned early, Castiel Sherrerr.

  I wanted to speak to you this evening, but something urgent has called me away. I’ve been thinking about your brothers and sisters. There’s still no message from the Torpille, the ship that went after the shuttle they stole. I can only assume the worst, that somehow they destroyed their pursuer.

  Your siblings must be captured and punished for their crime. I’m also concerned about what they might do while at liberty. Perhaps they will gather a force of mages and attack us. I want to prevent this possibility.

  I have sent another ship to try to discover what happened to the Torpille. If the ship is lost, I hope to find out where your siblings went.

  Perhaps I should have taken your advice and allowed you to go with the ship.

  S.D.

  Castiel’s anger and frustration drained away. This was more like it. Sable Dirksen was finally recognizing his worth in the clan. He would insist on going along on any further expeditions to discover his siblings’ whereabouts. He would be there when they were captured.

  With Carina and the others under his control, he would create an entire wing of a new Dirksen force. A mage division. Like it or not, his brothers and sisters would help him cut a swathe through the Sherrerr-controlled areas of the galactic sector. They would be unstoppable. Then, when the time was right, he would make his move and assume control of the Dirksen clan.

  Castiel had a vision of four women standing outside his bedroom. All of them beautiful. All for his use. One of the women was Sable Dirksen. He saw himself walk up and down the line, surveying each woman from head to toe. Perhaps, if she was lucky, one night he would choose the former leader of the Dirksen clan.

  But that was for the future. Sable’s message had calmed him somewhat. He was glad he’d heard from her rather than seen her in person. His anger might have made him hasty and he could have said things he later regretted.

  He must remember that though he was a mage, he was alone. He had no guards to command, nowhere secure to sleep. His room had a lock, but that didn’t mean he was safe. Someone could still break in and steal his elixir while he slept, leaving him powerless.

  He must not let ambition and impatience be his downfall. Father had waited years to play a bigger role in Sherrerr affairs. He must exercise the same restraint.

  Yet the days’ frustrations had left him tired. Castiel decided to go to his room and lie down while he awaited Sable’s return. He left the hall and climbed the cold stone stairs to the corridor that led to his room. When he arrived he was surprised to see the door stood a little ajar. Someone was inside. Was someone searching his things?

  But when Castiel stepped into his room, he found that the intruder was only the servant who had been assigned to him. The young woman was preparing his fire.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, sir. I wasn’t expecting you back so early. I’ll finish as quickly as I can and leave you alone.”

  The good news about Sable’s change of attitude had left Castiel feeling generous. “Don’t worry. Take your time.” He lay down on his bed and put his hands behind his head. From under half-closed eyes, he watched the young woman pile wood into the grate and light it from underneath.

  Castiel had become accustomed to the servant over the weeks that she’d performed her duties for him. He could almost say he liked her. She was always extremely respectful. He didn’t think she’d even once looked him in the eye, and she rarely addressed him unless he spoke to her directly.

  She was also—he hadn’t failed to notice—very pretty.

  Castiel watched her languidly, imagining her as one of the women he would line up outside his door. What if he chose her over Sable? Ha! That would make the ex-clan leader spit.

  “All done, sir,” said the servant, straightening up.

  Smoke was rising from the wood and circling lazily up the chimney.

  “I hope it warms your room nicely,” the young woman continued, keeping her gaze firmly downward. “This place is always so chilly.”

  The sentences were probably the most the servant had spoken to Castiel at one encounter. He was surprised, and intrigued. She seemed to have a purpose to her loquaciousness, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

  “It is cold in this castle,” Castiel agreed, sitting up.

  The servant lifted her head and looked him directly in the eyes. “Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?”

  Castiel’s throat tightened. Did she mean what he thought she meant? Were his fantasies about to become reality? He almost said, Like what? but quickly realized what a fool he would sound. Instead, he tried to see how far he could take this potential opportunity. “Actually, there is.”

  The servant approached him on the bed, her gaze locked onto his. There could be no mistaking her intent. When she reached the bed, she bent down to take off her shoes.

  Castiel almost couldn’t believe it. It was finally happening. He’d imagined a different kind of scenario, where he would take what he wanted whether the girl agreed to let him or not. So this wa
s strange. But good. Good enough. The servant had to find him irresistible.

  She sat on the edge of his bed and began to unfasten her blouse.

  Chapter Fifteen

  When Carina woke the first thing she noticed was the familiar vibration of a ship’s engine. The boarders must have carried her onto their vessel. She was lying on a padded surface rather than the hard floor of a cell, and she didn’t seem to be restrained. Good. The Sherrerrs who had captured them were clearly idiots.

  Carina opened her eyelids to slits. The room she was in was white and brightly lit. She could hear someone moving around, but she couldn’t see the person due to the angle of her head. Her eyes faced the corner of the ceiling. She didn’t want to move or her captors would know she was awake. If they thought she remained unconscious they might say something significant.

  In the end, it was Darius’ voice she heard.

  “Ow! Don’t do that! No!”

  Carina was up in an instant. She launched herself in the direction of her brother’s voice. Darius was lying on his front on a bed, and someone was leaning over him and touching his hair. Carina leapt onto the man’s back and grabbed his forehead and chin before wrenching his head around, trying to break his neck.

  “Whaaaaa! Argh!” The man stumbled backward, sending Carina crashing into the wall. The man stumbled forward. Carina clung onto his back, feeling for his eyes. Together, they fell into some equipment. The metal implements scattered over the floor. The man fell down and rolled onto his back, trying to dislodge her.

  “Help!” he shouted. “Someone help me!”

  Carina had raked her nails over the man’s face but failed to damage his eyes. She switched tactics and gripped his neck, digging hard into his arteries. Moments later she felt him relax under her grip. She crawled out from underneath his large, heavy body.

  One down, how many more to go? With disappointment Carina saw the man was unarmed. She stood up. There was a movement in the doorway. She turned, but before she could see what had caused it she felt the familiar and dreaded burst of a stun hitting her in the side.