Clarity's Edge: Technopaladin, #1

by Elizabeth Corrigan

  Cass didn’t think for one second Tenacity believed anything he’d said to her, but he’d set up his story too well for her to find any obvious holes. “Well, you’re not getting it. Three of my projects are enough for you to work on at once. And don’t let this task for your mother degrade the quality of your real work.”

  “Of course not.” Cass smiled as Tenacity turned and walked out of his office, but the expression fell as soon as she exited the room. Crap. Now I have to geocode.

  Since Clarity had stayed up far too late the two previous nights, she slept in the next morning. By the time she had gotten out of bed and showered, she barely had time to tie her hair in a ponytail before heading down to meet Cass for tech support. She wanted to be a few minutes early so she could ask him if he’d found out about any missing Dovexin shipments yet.

  The weather had turned colder in the last couple of days, and she wouldn’t have been surprised if there had been a frost that morning. By the time she trudged across the Citadel campus, though, the dry leaves flitted through the cold breeze. Clarity considered going back for a hat and gloves, but she was running late enough that she didn’t want to bother. She worried getting the medication had taken too long already and that Evelyn would have already sold her son to Garrett. Clarity knew enough about the course of Clement’s disease to be aware Kimessa still had a few more days, but she couldn’t be sure Evelyn would continue to watch her child suffer.

  Clarity arrived at the tech support center a good fifteen minutes before midday, and she barely glanced at the tow-headed woman at the main desk---Amity, Clarity thought her name was---before heading back to Cass’s office. As soon as the door slid shut behind her, she said, “Tell me you have something for me.”

  “Oh, Clarity, you’re early.” Cass made a few keystrokes on his main computer, looking relaxed, as if he didn’t care that a child’s life was at stake. “I just need to finish up a few things here, and we can go relieve Amy.” He put a finger to his lips and shook his head.

  Clarity frowned but played along. She had decided to trust Cass, which meant believing he knew when it wasn’t safe to talk. “Okay.”

  “Hey, so, after we’re done with tech support, do you want to grab lunch?” He didn’t look at her, just pivoted in his chair to face a different computer and type a few characters onto the screen there. “I know pickings are slim that time of day, but maybe company would improve them?”

  Clarity was confused for a moment before she realized he was making an excuse for them to talk somewhere outside his office. He had mentioned his boss’s suspicions the night before, so he must be worried she was listening in. “Yeah, sure, that sounds… good.” She supposed in order to keep up the guise, she would have to go to the cafeteria with Cass, but the thought didn’t scare her as much as it would have a couple of days ago. Somewhere in the midst of their secrets and plotting, she had started to think of Cass Hughes as a friend.

  The next hour was one of the longest of Clarity’s life, and she couldn’t help but find Cass’s casual demeanor frustrating. How can you be so calm when a child is dying? She wanted to shout, but when Tenacity stopped by to “check if they needed anything” no fewer than three times during their shift, Clarity started to understand the need for his false calm, even if she couldn’t replicate it. She might have passed off Tenacity’s first two visits as her leaving for and coming back from lunch, but the third couldn’t be excused as anything but spying. The piercing look Tenacity gave Clarity made the warrior feel like the tech boss knew all her secrets, but Clarity remained sure that if Tenacity knew anything, she’d be going to the paladin Council, not snooping around Cass’s tech support hour.

  When the clock finally struck 1pm and the aptly named Punctuality came to take his spot at the desk, Clarity jumped up so fast she nearly banged her leg on the table. It would be just my luck to break my other ankle. Cass stuck his head in Tenacity’s office to say he was going to lunch, then followed Clarity out the door. As soon as they’d put a reasonable distance between themselves and the tech building, Clarity turned to Cass. “Well? What did you find?”

  Cass gave her a huge grin. “Well, I didn’t find evidence of interruptions in the supply chain.”

  Clarity’s shoulders sagged. “What are you smiling for, then?”

  “I found something else.” Cass seemed quite proud of himself. “Because of some creative truth-telling I had to employ, I ended up mapping the volume of medication deliveries to clinics and comparing it to the prevalence of Clement’s Disease in the catchment area. Turns out one clinic has been ordering a disproportionate amount of Dovexin---and a bunch of other medicines as well. I suspect that clinic is ordering in extra medication and then selling it off to Garrett’s crew.”

  Clarity’s mouth fell open. “I can’t believe a medical practitioner would do that! It’s so unethical!”

  “Hey, not everybody’s a paladin,” Cass said. “Besides, they might see breaking the rules as a way to get medicine to people who couldn’t otherwise have it.”

  “They’re giving it to a crime lord,” Clarity said. “Who is extorting people in exchange for the medicines. If they were really so noble, they’d give it directly to the Azurites.”

  “The penalties for which are extremely high, as you well know,” Cass said. “They’d run the risk of both the paladins and Garrett catching them, and I’m not sure which would be worse.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” Clarity said. “I shouldn’t think the worst of people. I just---”

  “Want to ascribe all the evil in the world to Garrett and his ilk?” Cass asked. “I get it.”

  Clarity nodded. She wanted to be able to divide the world into good people and not-good people, but she couldn’t. Where would one put the Grand Conductor on such a scale? Where would one put her and Cass, who had deleted official records in the name of saving children? “I guess the only way to find out is for me to go down and visit the clinic.”

  “Us,” Cass said. “For us to visit the clinic.”

  Clarity gave him an apologetic look. “No, it has to be just me.”

  “I thought we were partners,” Cass said, his voice heating up.

  “We are,” Clarity said. “But think about it. Tenacity’s watching you, and who’s to say she wouldn’t follow if you took the afternoon off? I, on the other hand, don’t have anyone paying attention to my schedule until I get this cast off my leg. Besides, once I get the medicine, I can go talk to Evelyn. She’s not going to want to talk to me, and she’s met me. She definitely won’t like it if I bring another paladin.”

  Cass didn’t look appeased. “And just how do you plan to get the medicine? I thought the plan was to steal it back from the Azure District thugs. What if you can’t take them all on?”

  “I’m not an idiot. I know not to get into a fight when the odds aren’t in my favor.” Besides, how helpful would you be in a fight? “I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do. I’ll figure something out. I trusted you when you wouldn’t tell me anything back in the office. Now you’re going to have to trust me.”

  “It’s not the same,” Cass said. “But fine. You have a point. Come on, let’s go get lunch.”

  Chapter 14

  By the time Clarity reached the clinic Cass suspected of selling medication to Garrett, she wished she had tried to convince Dependability to lend her a motorcycle. Even in as good a shape as she was, traveling across the city on crutches was no joke. She realized, though, that she needed to go to the Azure District once she got the medicine she needed, and she had learned her lesson about bringing a bike in there.

  The facility was in the historic part of the city, where no buildings were taller than three stories, and most of them were made of stone or brick instead of the more modern metal. At only one story, the clinic was one of the smaller edifices on its block. The red brick building had ivy climbing its walls and would have looked quite picture
sque if not for the solar panels on the roof. Clarity was willing to forgo old-time beauty in the interests of using sustainable energy sources rather than the fossil fuels that had likely once powered the building.

  Clarity pulled open the manual door and stepped into a cool waiting room with mauve furnishings and a vague scent of citrus in the air. Half a dozen people sat in the waiting room in various stages of discomfort. The woman behind the reception desk wore stylish clothes at odds with the antiquities that surrounded her, including the shiny brass name tag on her chest that read “Amanda.”

  As Clarity approached the desk, Amanda looked up. “How may I help you…?” Her voice trailed off as she saw a paladin standing before her. “Oh, dear, I see you’ve broken your leg. Do you need some assistance with that?” Amanda sounded dubious, as if wondering why a paladin with an already-treated injury had appeared in her clinic.

  “Oh, no, my care is managed at the Citadel.” Clarity offered what she hoped was a disarming smile. “I was hoping to talk to whoever did your supply order.”

  Amanda paled so visibly, any doubts about wrongdoing in this clinic fled from Clarity’s mind. “I think you’d better speak with Dr. Rowan,” said Amanda. She pressed a few buttons on her computer screen. “Unfortunately, she has back-to-back appointments with patients for the rest of the afternoon. If you want to come back in a few hours, or tomorrow morning, I’m sure she can find time to speak to you.”

  Clarity straightened to her full height, not that doing so took much effort. She usually had good posture. “I’m afraid I must insist on seeing the doctor now.”

  Amanda sighed and studied her nails. “Look, Miss---?”

  “Clarity.”

  “Miss Clarity. I’m sure whatever business you have with Dr. Rowan about supplies is very important, but the doctor is already running quite late. Do you want to tell these sick people the doctor needs to discuss a logistical issue instead of treating their illnesses?”

  Clarity deflated. “No.”

  “I didn’t think so,” Amanda said with a touch of a sneer. “You are of course welcome to wait, but I’m not at all sure how long the doctor will be.”

  Clarity wanted to stay and keep an eye on Amanda. She didn’t want her warning the doctor and giving her time to destroy any evidence. But Clarity supposed she couldn’t prevent Amanda from doing so via the computer system, and she didn’t want to sit around in the waiting room with potentially infectious people. She couldn’t help anyone if she ended up laid out with the flu or worse. “I will be back,” she said to the receptionist with as much authority as she could muster.

  “I’m sure you will,” Amanda said.

  Clarity went back outside and, after stepping to the side of the door, took a moment to consider the situation. She could return that evening or the next day to see if Dr. Rowan was more inclined to chat, but she suspected Amanda would be able to give her the runaround for days if she wanted to, and Kimessa didn’t have days. Clarity knew she should have been more aggressive about demanding an appointment with the doctor, but she could not in good conscience deny the waiting patients their medical care.

  As she was about to find somewhere private to call Cass and discuss options, she noticed a flash of blue on the chests of two men walking by. She recognized the patches on their shirts---symbols of the Azure District---and realized the style of their suits matched Archer’s exactly. These had to be Garrett’s men, and odds were good they were picking up medical supplies.

  Clarity waited until they disappeared around the corner of the clinic, then hurried to the side to see where they went. She reached the edge of the building in time to see them turn into a loading dock on the side of the building. As quietly as she could---which admittedly was not very quiet---she crept after them. She stopped just out of view, flattened herself against the side of the building, and listened to the conversation.

  “This is less than what Garrett ordered,” one of the men said.

  “And I told you I couldn’t get as much as he wanted.” The tone of the woman who responded was calm and cool. “I already risk discovery with the additional medicines I order. Garrett can take what I give him, or he can get nothing.”

  “This isn’t what we pay you for” came the man’s voice again.

  The woman made a disgusted noise. “I’m not asking for more money than what I’m giving you, though I acknowledge your plebeian brains may not be able to calculate the difference in payment.” She named the sum they owed her, and a moment of silence followed, as the transaction presumably took place.

  “Garrett’s not going to be happy about this,” the man said. “He might come have a talk with you personally. Or provide a little demonstration of what he’s capable of.”

  “I’m so scared.” The woman was clearly trying to sound sarcastic, but Clarity detected a faint quaver in her voice.

  Footsteps sounded around the corner, and Clarity realized she didn’t have time to get out of sight, much less do so without making noise. Fortunately, the men turned to leave in the opposite direction from which they had come, not even seeming to notice the paladin spying on them. As Clarity gathered the nerve to confront the woman, the far more perceptive participant in the negotiation called out, “You can come out now.”

  Clarity took a deep breath and emerged to face a woman with a dark red updo and pointed glasses that must have just been for fashion. “Dr. Rowan, I presume?”

  “Indeed,” Dr. Rowan said. “Would you care to tell me what a paladin is doing spying on my private business transactions?”

  Clarity swallowed. She should feel strong. After all, she had caught this woman selling medication to a crime lord, but somehow the coldness Dr. Rowan exuded made Clarity feel like her body might end up somewhere no one would ever find it. “We were looking into your supply chain records and noticed the irregularities. I went to talk to you in your office, but your receptionist turned me away. When I saw the Azurites in the area, I thought I might confirm my suspicions another way.”

  Dr. Rowan let out a ringing laugh. “Let me get this straight. The paladins found evidence of my nefarious deeds, and instead of mobilizing an army to arrest me, they sent a single, injured girl? You lot must be even more pathetic than I thought.” She considered the statement. “Either that, or you’re not here to arrest me.”

  “I am not,” Clarity said. “But that could change at any moment, so I suggest you cooperate.” Was that a bluff? Out of my mouth?

  “Very well,” Dr. Rowan said. “What do you want, then?”

  “Let’s start with why,” Clarity said. “You’re the head doctor at a paladin-sponsored medical clinic. It can’t have been for the money.”

  Dr. Rowan steepled her fingers and placed them against her lips before answering. “Would you believe it was to avoid filling out forms? There are very strict rules in this district about what facilities buildings can and cannot have. I wanted vacuum-sealed doors for my surgery, for better hygiene, but in order to get them, I needed to file any number of permits with the city. That would have cost time and money with no guarantee of success. A patient had just died of a surgical site infection, and I didn’t want to risk that happening again.”

  “I don’t see how the Azure District plays into this,” Clarity said.

  “Ha. Thugs on either side of the law aren’t very bright, are they? No reputable contractor would have done the installation without the proper permits, but Garrett was willing to send some people out. He doesn’t care about paladin rules, especially stupid ones about preserving historical buildings at the cost of lives. All he wanted in exchange for the work was a few medicines that are easy enough to come by.”

  The doctor questioned Clarity’s intelligence, but Clarity was also beginning to suspect the doctor’s. Getting involved with a crime lord never ended with one exchange. “That wasn’t the end of it, though, was it?”

  “No. I wa
nted it to be, but once I had traded with Garrett, he threatened to turn me in to you lot unless I provided him with what he wanted. So I have. I admit, the money is nice, but I’d be just as glad to get rid of him.”

  Clarity didn’t understand how the woman with such a cold attitude had become a doctor. “You do realize Garrett extorts favors from the people he allegedly rules in exchange for the medicines you give him, right?”

  “Without me, those people would have no access to the medication at all,” Dr. Rowan said with a shrug. “I suppose Garrett would find some other clinic to blackmail, but the result would be the same. The real question is, why do you know all this? I thought paladins held their noses too high to stick them into Azure District business.”

  Clarity tried to appear lofty and mysterious. “It doesn’t matter why I know, just that I do, and that I could tell people who could get you and all your employees into a lot of trouble.”

  Dr. Rowan gave Clarity a considering look. “But you haven’t told them yet, which means you either want something from me, or you don’t want your superiors to know how much you know about the Azure District. I suppose you could be a naive-looking ingenue with a devious streak here to entrap me. You’ll note that none of these situations motivates me to give you whatever you want.”

  “I’m not here under any kind of paladin orders,” Clarity said. “And my ask is small. I want one course of Dovexin to treat a case of Clement’s Disease. You’ve apparently got plenty of extra.”

  “I just sold my extra,” Dr. Rowan said. “But say I give you the medicine you ask for. Will you leave me alone? Tell no one what I told you and never bother me again?”

  Clarity hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “If that’s what it takes.” If she cut off this source of Dovexin, she’d only be able to treat Kimessa, not the other sick children in the Azure District, but one child would have to be enough. She didn’t want to be like Garrett, continuing to blackmail the clinic.