Power Nexus (Vorcian Imperial Chronicles Book 3)

by Taki Drake

  Corda had sobered as soon as Jessa had begun to speak. Responding to the guilt shared by all the Peacekeepers' expressions, the young girl answered the huge man with echoes of fear and pain in her eyes, “They attacked us and were going to hurt Argah and Liz. I was the only one standing. And I had to stop them. It was bad enough with the men who had weapons, but there was a Mage, and he was really strong.”

  There was no sound in the alley as everyone there focused on the tiny girl and her shaking voice. Squatting down, so his head was almost level with Corda’s, the big man’s voice was a clear whisper when he asked, “And then what happened?”

  Her eyes staring off in the distance, unfocused and haunted, Corda said, “I pulled the bad men away from my friends. There was so much blood I don’t want to think about it. Then I tried to make a wall so the people with weapons couldn’t get to us. But the Mage was too strong, and he was ripping down my wall.” The anguished gaze of the frightened child was suddenly focused on the big man, hitting him with such a blast of terror, regret, and anger that he almost fell down.

  “I would not let him hurt my friends. They were just trying to teach me how to shop, and it wasn’t fair that they would be hurt.”

  Drilling into the Minister’s eyes and giving him a glimpse of the depth of her soul, the 13-year-old girl said, “The bad people kept coming and would not stop or go away. We hoped that our friends and my brother would come for us, but there was no more time. So I had to kill the bad people. I had to kill them with my Magic.” Brokenly, she added, “It was the only way.”

  Shaking so severely that Corda felt she was going to fly into pieces, the young girl broke her stare-down with one of the most powerful men on the planet and turned to fling her tiny body into her grandfather’s embrace, crying, “Bonpa, it hurts so bad. I’m sorry, so sorry. Please make it stop.”

  Chapter 29 – Extraction

  Moving like a force of nature, the Academy Advocate got them out the alleyway and moving toward the waiting transportation. Ignoring the strident pleas for just a few more answers from the Minister, the woman kept them traveling in the right direction.

  The two Academy Security Guards were quickly reinforced by six more. Quickly forming a moving protective barrier around the traumatized girls, all of the guards shared expressions of rigidly-controlled anger, and it was apparent that they were not going to stop until they got their charges to safety.

  The ready weapons and the furious looks were intimidating enough, but it was the no longer cloaked appearance of the Citadel Mage that prevented anyone, even the Minister, from trying to hinder their return to the Academy.

  Reptilian in form, the woman possessed the incised crescent moon of the highest level of the Mages attending and certified by the Imperial Citadel Academy on the planet Nyri. Her swirling waist-high wall of fog held position just outside of the mass of Academy Security forces. Glowing with an eerie light, ribbons of bright Magic swam through the mist like strange eels, promising pain and danger to any that would think of breaching its barrier.

  By this time, a crowd of curious people had formed around the cordoned-off area on the street. The emergence of the Nyri Mage drew startled comments as her distinctive brush of dappled, glowing long hair running from the crown of her head to the base of her skull and the delicate beauty of her scaled features came into view. There was a frenzy of picture taking, and the number of people from the news media grew by the minute. Moving theatrically, the woman drew everyone’s focus.

  In the center of the moving mass of people, Bertor carried his tiny sister, a haunted and infuriated look in his eyes as her sobs ripped the heart from everyone that heard her fractured grief and fear. Gerald kept a hand under the elbow of the elderly Advocate, knowing how stupendously angry the older man was and how much Corda had grown to love her grandmother’s friend.

  Wisely, the younger man knew that there was no way that Bertor would allow anyone else to hold his sister, so he had chosen the elderly man as his charge. All of the members of the rescue party were suffering from feelings of failure. The trauma the three girls had gone through was shared in the echoes of self-inflicted reproaches that the young men told themselves.

  Even though Keve had tried to reassure everybody that they had done the best they could, Gerald saw the same sick regret in his other two friends’ eyes and could feel it humming through every motion that the Master Healer made. For now, there was nothing they could do but tough it out.

  Everyone was coping to the best of their ability. Liz and Argah had ceased to cry but moved with the drugged motions of bodies pushed past exhaustion and minds battered by too many emotions. Gerald, Ricee, and Keve lent an arm when it would be accepted and tried to smooth the path, protecting each other as best they could.

  Gerald kept his head down, trying to keep his face from being caught in too many pictures. He hoped with a feverish intensity that no one that would cause him problems would see him on the news broadcast.

  When Argah stumbled and would have fallen, the Peacekeeper Commander, who had made a point of walking next to the elderly Advocate caught the young woman. Scooping her up smoothly without losing a step, Rankev saw the distress on Keve’s face and suggested in a low tone, “I can play beast of burden, but she needs a friend to hold her hand.” Sending the older, but stronger man a look of gratitude, Keve spent the rest the time holding on to Argah’s hand and murmuring to her.

  In just a short distance that seemed to take an extraordinarily long amount of time, the Academy party arrived at the closely-parked group of four vehicles guarded by additional Academy Security personnel. Gently directed into three of the vehicles, the Academy students split up. Selecting a door at random, Gerald slipped in with Bertor and Corda, seating himself next to the bigger man and shifting Corda’s slender legs to lie across his lap.

  Looking down at the dusty and scraped legs and feet of his little friend, Gerald realized that some time in her day that one of her heels had broken off her shoe and the entire bottom of the other shoe had been ripped, leaving her foot bare to the pavement. She is so small, so fragile. How could she keep taking these blows and not break? he thought to himself. Trying desperately to maintain control, the young man was unable to stop the tears that dripped soundlessly down his face and continued on to be soaked up in the dust coating Corda’s legs.

  Moving his arm outward to enclose Gerald in the circle of arms holding Corda, the loving brother and Master Healer leaned the side of his head on the top of Gerald’s and let a few boiling hot tears of his own fall.

  Through the open vehicle door, the two men could hear the aged but powerful voice of the retired Advocate General as he gave an obvious answer to a reporter’s questions, “Yes, it is a shame that the young women in our city could be assaulted in broad daylight, even snatched off the streets. Luckily, the Peacekeepers were quick to respond to the threat and joined Academy forces to prevent additional harm to the young women involved.”

  There was a murmur of sound that apparently contained other questions that were indistinguishable to the occupants of the vehicle but the old Advocate’s response was crystal-clear as he firmly stated, “Yes, there were a few problems at a later point in the investigation but I believe that those are now under control. As you can see, Minister Rodray arrived to give his personal assurances that the shortfalls in procedure would be immediately addressed. I will be following up on this with him to identify any further legal action that needs to be taken, as will the Academy Advocate.”

  Another murmur and the old man said, “I believe that others have statements and, please forgive me, but we need to get our Academy students back for medical evaluation and treatment. Good night.”

  With that, Advocate Amity slipped into the vehicle, shadowed by the Nyri Mage. The door closed, and within just a few seconds, they were heading back to the Academy at top speed. Glancing out of the windows, Gerald could see that their shuttle had an escort of five streamlined Guardian Stingers. Marked with an unkno
wn insignia, the armed single-occupant conveyances were something he was used to seeing in high-level protection details.

  A light laugh from the Nyri Mage pulled Gerald’s attention back to his companions. The woman was grinning at the elderly Advocate, who was smiling broadly back at her. Her melodious voice carried the happy notes of sheer joy as she said, “I think it was well that I had come to visit my friend, Jessa. Not only was this interesting, but I think I was dramatic enough to draw attention away from the students. What do you think, Epheth?”

  Capturing her hand and raising it gallantly to his lips in an old-fashioned courteous gesture, the Advocate said cheerfully, “My dear, if there were awards that we could give out for incredible acting, you would win the top prize.”

  Over Corda’s shivering body, or Bertor and Gerald exchanged stunned and thankful glances.

  Smoothly and without delay, their escort took them through the streets of the town and in through the Academy gate.

  For the first time that he could remember, Gerald saw that the Academy entrance had not been left wide open. Instead, each vehicle coming in or out was required to stop and be inspected by a member of Academy Security.

  “Wow, I didn’t realize that they would do that.” Flushing with embarrassment as he realized he had spoken out loud, the mortified young man looked up in apology but was reassured by the amused eyes of both the Citadel Mage and Corda’s grandfather.

  Speaking to the Advocate, Gerald apologized, “I am sorry, my only explanation is I’m also very exhausted.”

  Smiling, the old man responded, “I cannot remember the last time that this protocol was invoked. However, it has been in place for many years. Sometimes there’s a reason to know who’s going in and out, and I believe this is one of them.”

  Chapter 30 – Home Base

  The Academy had been on high alert, waiting for the return of Corda and her friends. Gerald knew that the school was on standby but did not know what that meant in terms of what would happen when they successfully arrived on Academy grounds.

  The first inkling that he and Bertor had was when their vehicle had come to a halt, and doors on both sides of the compartment were opened up to allow quick exits. Through the openings, angered words and shouting voices told them that all was not prepared in a way that the battered students could avoid additional stress.

  “I do not care that you want to debrief the students now. It is our primary responsibility to see to their well-being, and they have already been held in a state of shock for hours. They need to be medically evaluated and treated as necessary before you can get your blasted interviews!” the incandescently-angry voice of Master Healer Tinels raised the temperature of the air enough to parch Gerald’s throat.

  “Oh, dear,” murmured Bertor, “I know Jerroy, and he is beyond angry. Something better happen, or there’s going to be a Mage duel, and whoever it is fighting against him will not win.”

  Gerald looked at the Bertor in shock, saying, “As a group, we’ve dealt with him quite a bit. He’s always so even-tempered and pleasant. That doesn’t sound like the man we know.”

  Laughing a bit to himself, Bertor said, “He can be pretty easy-going and definitely nurturing up to a point, but he has one of the worst tempers that I’ve ever encountered. If you push him over the edge, you are in trouble.” When Gerald stared in disbelief, obviously still confused, Corda’s brother said, “A word of advice. Never, I do mean never, upset a man who knows how to put you back together. Remember that in order to know that, he really has to know how to take you apart.”

  Understanding exploded inside of Gerald’s head, and he started to laugh. The other vehicle occupants joined in, and they exited with traces of that amusement still relieving some of the pressure that each one of them felt.

  The next few hours were a confusing blur of movement and voices for Corda, Liz, and Argah. Refusing to back down, the Triage Healer swept all of the people involved in the incident, including Advocate Amity, into the infirmary for a rapid evaluation. Deciding that food and hydration were the primary requirements for the three Academy students and Bertor, the Triage Healer released them quickly after obtaining promises from all of them that they would perform no extraordinary physical efforts for at least several days.

  As soon as Bertor and the three students set foot outside of the infirmary, however, all of them were hustled into a debriefing room. Expecting only to see one or two people there, the three students cringed at the packed chamber. Every seat filled, the audience included what appeared to be every instructor at the Academy and a whole myriad of people dressed in a mixture of uniforms and expensive suits.

  Setting his shoulders, Bertor took the lead, and the three exhausted students gratefully trailed in his wake. Seeing the set face of the Master Healer, several of the people sitting at the table in the front of the room leaned back in their chair and appeared to be reconsidering their approach.

  Of the nine sitting at the front table, Gerald knew six. One was the Headmaster of the Academy, and five more seats were occupied by the Master of each of the Academy Disciplines. The other three were strangers to him, but they all wore Mage tabs with strange insignia, and their guarded expressions filled him with unease.

  Once everyone was seated, the Academy Headmaster addressed the group. Looking at Bertor and the three students, the man said, “I realize you’re exhausted, and all you want to do is to collapse. However, there are multiple aspects to this incident that are of concern to groups within the Academy itself and in the larger sphere of the Imperium. This includes political, military, educational, Magical, and commercial sectors. Hopefully, that will explain to you why there are so many attendees at this initial briefing.”

  Bertor heard Gerald groan under his breath and wondered what the young man had just realized that the Master Healer didn’t know. Vowing to himself to ask the young man later, Bertor answered the Headmaster, saying, “All of us appreciate that, but you risk driving any one of us, myself included, into collapse after the events of the day.”

  Interjecting her mellow voice into the conversation, the Head of the Bardic Discipline at the Academy said persuasively, “At this point, what is needed is a broad-brush understanding of what happened and any other piece of information or conjecture that you might have. That will allow the different groups represented in this room to come up with their approach to interviews.”

  “Absolutely not.” The words were crisp and unemotional as the Academy Advocate marched into the room with Advocate Amity at her side. Walking behind them was a group of four other Advocates, including the Imperial Advocate, the head of the entire Imperium’s legal system.

  Instantly standing in respect, every person in the room inclined their head in a bow, but Jessa marched down the central aisle of the meeting room as if she were going to battle. Turning her back to the Academy Heads, the granite-faced woman said in clipped tones, “You are not going to cross-examine or interview the witnesses or the victims of this crime individually. By accepting the position of Guardian of its students, the Academy is required to protect against such heinous behavior.”

  Advocate Amity took over, leaning slightly on a cane and matching Jessa’s flat tone as he laid out the situation, “All of the main witnesses or participants in this event were either children under the letter of the law or unaffiliated relatives that cannot be forced into repeated and exhausting interrogation. You would be violating the Imperium’s Bill of Rights, and should you attempt to do so, please understand that you will be brought up in charges in the Imperial High Court.”

  The older woman dressed in the garb of the Imperial Advocates took the bouncing ball of declamation and set it up for another player by saying, “The High Imperium Advocacy has already been convened in an emergency session and has unanimously ruled to support Academy Advocate Powood and Advocate General Amity. They have been issued Imperial Warrants authorizing them to file immediate injunctive relief or issue criminal warrants if any violation occurs.”


  The ball was in the air, and nobody in the room knew where it was going to land. It hung there waiting for another player, and when the slender figure of the Imperial Seer walked in the room, she smashed it down with an explosion that wiped out any attempted strong-arm tactic.

  Misha Bellee Gerson, the only known living Seer, explained to their audience in just a few words, “A vision on the subject was reported to the Emperor 15 years ago, long before some of the people involved were born. At that time, certain measures were put in place to safeguard events that are critical to the future of the Imperium for the next millennium. Those strategies were reviewed with the Emperor just a few days ago since further visions warned us of the immediacy of the trigger points.”

  With a nod of her head, the Seer passed control back to Jessa. In the same even tone she had started with, the Academy Advocate said, “This is how it is going to be. All of you will have access to the witness statements and the interview content that the Peacekeepers collected. You also have available to you the data collected during the MCF evidence collection.

  “As soon as the Healers in charge of their recovery will permit, the individuals involved in this event will be made available for question-and-answer sessions. For each individual group, 15-minutes will be allotted.”

  An upset and angry cacophony of voices raised up in protest before Jessa threw up her hand to cut off the noise. When the room had quieted, she continued, saying, “If there is another group that you choose to collaborate with, you may add your 15 minutes to theirs. However, you will submit all of the questions that you wish to ask during that session no less than 12 hours ahead of time.”

  Advocate Amity took over, saying, “Those questions will be reviewed by at least two Advocates. If any of those questions touch on inappropriate areas or ones that have been marked as out of bounds by Imperial decree, they will be excluded from your interview.”