Tani's Destiny (Hearts of ICARUS Book 2)

by Laura Jo Phillips

  “That’s understandable,” Tani said. “But I can teach the women.”

  “Yes, I know,” Steel said. “But it’s a big undertaking, Tani. If you begin, then leave, there will be no one to finish.”

  “That’s not an issue,” Tani said, and his heart leapt. “I’ll begin with the simplest, most basic weapon available. In just a few days they’ll be able to use it with confidence.”

  “Oh,” Steel said, his hopes hitting the floor with an almost audible thud. “What weapon is that?”

  “A hand laser.”

  “Those are dangerous,” Steel warned.

  “That’s the point,” she said, smiling wryly. “I’m afraid that harsh language just isn’t going to work any better for the women than it would for the men.”

  Steel rolled his eyes, making her laugh. “Why hand lasers?” he asked.

  “Because most of the women are still weak and may remain so for some time,” Tani said. “A hand laser is relatively small, easy to learn how to use, can be used by a person with limited strength and manual dexterity, kills and recharges quickly allowing the user to defend against several attackers at once, and does not require that the user get too close to her attacker.”

  Steel nodded. They were all excellent reasons. “We should have enough hand lasers for everyone since we emptied the Nomen’s armory.”

  “I was hoping that was the case. Don’t worry, Steel. I’ll teach them the dangers, as well as the benefits of the weapon.”

  “That’s more than we men had,” he said. “I wonder, do you think you might be willing to give some of us men a few pointers?”

  “Of course,” she agreed. “I won’t be able to begin working with the women until the hand lasers have been gone over thoroughly. That’ll take time, but it’s unavoidable since those weapons came from the enemy camp. So, if you like, I can spend some time with the men today.”

  “I’d like, very much,” Steel said. “I’ll get some men started on the hand lasers right away.”

  “They know how to field strip and check them?”

  “Yes, that much we do know, thanks to Khurda,” Steel said.

  “Tani, do you think you could tell the women that you’ll be teaching them?” Astra asked. “I think it would help their spirits.”

  “Yes, of course,” Tani said. “I’ll do that first.” She looked at Steel. “What do you think the men will want to learn most?”

  “There are about fifty of us that have developed some skill with hand lasers and projectile weapons,” he said. “Those are the simplest to use, of course, which is why we’ve started the new men off with them. I know some of the men would like pointers on long range shooting, and on shooting moving targets. Most of us would like help with edged weapons, especially the shuriken and throwing knives. Personally, I’d love to learn how to fight hand to hand, like you did in that alley on EDU-12. I never imagined being able to do anything like that, and now I can’t think of anything I want to learn more.”

  “It takes years to become truly proficient in the martial arts,” Tani said. “I’m happy to teach you, but I think we should begin with some basic maneuvers designed to disable your opponent as quickly as possible.”

  “That sounds great to me,” he said. “I’m going to go get some men started on the weapons, and let them know we’re going to get some training from an expert.”

  “They won’t mind learning from a woman?”

  “No, they’ll be thrilled,” he said confidently.

  “All right, I’ll come up to the armory when I finish speaking with the women,” Tani said. Steel leaned over and kissed her quickly, then practically leapt to his feet.

  “See you soon, Khalute,” he said, then waved at Astra before leaving the cave.

  Astra arched a brow at Tani, who just shrugged, smiled, and got to her feet. “I better go get dressed now. It looks like it’s going to be a busy day.”

  Astra watched her leave the room smiling wistfully. It was so wonderful to see both her cousin and her friend happy. She just wished she could have a little of that same happiness for herself. She’d meant to follow Tani’s advice about Khurda, but she’d gotten side tracked with caring for the women and children who’d been freed from the mine. All of them were eating solid food now, so long as it was cooked well first, and they were slowly regaining a little strength, due mostly to Tani’s healing efforts. Maybe it was time to focus on herself, and her own happiness. She just had to figure out how to go about seizing the day like Tani had suggested.

  ***

  Tani sat on a stool by the fireplace in the women’s cave, with all of the women gathered around, facing her. Most of them were still quite weak, though they were all improving. Ruya and the other six women who’d been in the worst shape of all were no longer in their beds. They’d recovered so quickly after Tani’s healing that there were already strong enough to help with the care of the others.

  Tani had immediately wanted to help all of the women, but Astra had objected, strongly. Instead, she encouraged Tani to help only those who needed it most, and those just enough so that their bodies could easily accept the nourishment they so badly needed. Tani wanted to heal all of the women of all of the damage caused by their long bout of near starvation, but she recognized her own limitations, and knew that if she wasn’t careful she could end up killing herself. Then she could be of no help to anyone.

  The women waited quietly for everyone to find a place to sit and get comfortable. Astra had already told them that she wanted to speak with them, but she hadn’t said why. Tani had been trying to think of the best way to begin ever since she’d agreed to do this, but nothing fancy came to mind. She’d just have to wing it.

  “Good morning everyone,” she said, then paused as a low murmur of voices responded. “I know that most of you have been through a truly terrible ordeal this past year, and that you’ve only just begun to regain a little of your strength. I know also that the fear of being taken back to the mine by the Nomen haunts all of you. Astra has suggested that having a way to defend yourselves might help, and I agree.”

  She felt the instant tension in the room, and understood that it was comprised of both relief and fear. “The problem is that most of you have a long way to go before you’re strong enough to engage in a physical battle. Therefore, I’ve chosen a weapon that will not only allow you to protect yourselves and your loved ones, it’s also one that can be used from a distance, and requires very little physical effort or training.”

  Tani reached for the hand laser she’d collected from the armory before entering the women’s cave and held it up. “This is a hand laser. This particular weapon has been disabled so that I can pass it around to all of you. Before I do, let me stress that weapon safety is of paramount importance. Before any of you shoot for the first time, you’ll have to learn all of the safety procedures that apply to this particular weapon. Never, ever point a weapon at anyone that you don’t intend to shoot, always keep your finger away from the trigger until you’re ready to shoot and, after today, never accept anyone else’s word that a weapon is safe without verifying it yourself. With all that in mind, would you like to hold this in your own hands and see what it feels like?”

  A chorus of assents filled the air, the liveliest and most energetic sound Tani had ever heard in the women’s cave. She handed the hand laser to Astra, who took a moment to turn it over in her hands. This was the first time she’d ever held a weapon of any sort, just as it would be a first for the other women. It was heavier than she’d expected it to be, and solid. When she was finished, she went to Drya, the unspoken leader of the women, and handed it to her.

  While the women passed the hand laser around, Tani continued speaking. “During the raid to free all of you from the mine, we broke into the Nomen’s armory and took all of the weapons it contained, including enough hand lasers for each woman to have one of her own. One of the most important features on these hand lasers is the fingerprint identification safety mechanism. Th
at means that, when activated, the safety will not disengage until a specific thumb is pressed against the tiny panel on the side. It will also specifically lock out certain people, such as your children. The weapon will not function unless you unlock it yourself.

  “I need all of you to understand that you will not receive a weapon, or be authorized to use one, until I’m satisfied that you’ve learned the weapon’s proper use, that you know all of the safety procedures, and that you’ll follow them. If I feel that any one of you is too careless with a weapon, or that you haven’t learned the safety procedures, or that you don’t take them seriously, I will not clear you for a weapon. It’s just that simple. I will work with anyone who has trouble for as long as necessary in an effort to help you learn, but I will not put a deadly weapon in the hands of anyone that I feel is irresponsible, or unsafe.”

  “We will all abide by your decisions, Gunji Tani,” Drya said, standing up and turning to face the rest of the women. “If you believe, for any reason, that I’m not capable of handling a weapon safely, as much as I want to be able to protect myself and Dirk, I will accept that decision with grace. You are the expert, not we.”

  “Thank you, Drya,” Tani said, offering the older woman a deep nod. “I appreciate your support and understanding. Aside from the mechanics of how to use a weapon, there is another side to the matter that I’d like to address. I want you all to give serious thought to what it means to use a deadly weapon. Before you pick a weapon up, you must understand and accept the fact that when you point it at someone and pull the trigger, you will either kill or seriously injure that person.

  “If any of you are uncomfortable with that idea, please know that there is no shame in it, and your feelings will be respected.” Tani put extra emphasis on her last statement, letting all of the women know she expected them to comply with it. She saw Drya indicate that she wanted to speak again and nodded to her.

  “I know this is a personal question, Gunji Tani, so please do not answer if you’re uncomfortable doing so, but I’d like to know if it was a difficult decision for you to make.”

  “I began learning self-defense when I was three years old, and began training with edged weapons at the age of five. Before I ever touched a weapon, I was taught their purpose, and the risks of using them in battle. But until the night of the raid on the mining compound, I’d never used a weapon against a living being with the intent to kill. On that night, I killed seven Nomen.”

  “Was it difficult for you?” Drya asked.

  “No, it wasn’t,” Tani said. She looked around at the expressions of surprise and doubt and tried to think of a way to explain. “If I accidentally hurt an innocent person with a weapon, I’m not sure how I’d deal with it. It wouldn’t be easy for me, I know that much. Accidents cannot be altogether prevented, but they can be minimized. That’s why safety protocols are so important to me, and why I’ve trained so long and so hard to master every weapon I pick up.

  “But the Nomen are not innocent. They are the enemy. This is their contest. They started it, and they set the rules. I entered their contest knowing those rules. Knowing that I could be killed just as easily as anyone else, which I nearly was. The only decision I had to make was whether the risk to my life was one I believed worth taking. It was.

  “No, Drya, I had no hesitation in killing some of the men who’d taken four hundred innocent Khun to use as slaves, including one hundred and thirty three women and children. My only regret is that by the time I arrived here, nearly half of your number had already died.”

  “We are grateful that you came at all,” Drya said. “Thank you, Gunji Tani.”

  Tani smiled, then took a deep breath to clear her mind. “Right now a number of men are checking the hand lasers carefully to be sure they’re safe. Tomorrow we’ll begin learning safety procedures, and the proper way to maintain and handle a hand laser. After that, we’ll begin target practice. It shouldn’t take any of you more than a couple of days to learn how to properly handle and shoot a hand laser. By the end of the week I expect the majority of you to have some proficiency.”

  “That’s fast,” Drya said, smiling. “We thought it would take weeks or even months.”

  “Most weapons do require a lot of time and practice to gain true skill. That’s not what we’re after right now. Our current goal is to put a weapon in your hands that you can use safely and effectively to protect yourselves if necessary. Now, I see that not all of you have had a chance to hold the hand laser, so while I wait, does anyone have any questions?”

  Tani spent an hour answering a variety of questions, most of which would be answered during lessons over the coming days, but which she patiently answered anyway. By the time everyone had had a chance to hold the hand laser, she sensed a change in the atmosphere of the women’s cave. There was excitement. Curiosity. Anticipation. And purpose.

  After answering the last question, Tani turned to Astra and gave her a hug. “You did good, Astra,” she said softly. “Very good.” Astra swallowed hard and smiled her thanks. Then Tani excused herself and left the women’s cave.

  She looked up the face of the cliff and smiled to see Steel standing outside of his cave watching for her. She started up the steep path toward him, wondering why it was that she never had any trouble climbing the paths when those who’d lived here for a year had difficulty.

  “How’d it go?” Steel asked when she reached him.

  “Really well,” Tani said. “They’re so quiet, though. Especially the children. They rarely talk and when they do, it’s in a voice so soft it’s barely even a whisper. It’s a bad sign.”

  “Yes, many of the men are the same way,” he said. “They’ll get better, Tani. We’ll help them.”

  She smiled up at him, her heart swelling with happiness. “You’re a rare man, Steel.”

  “Am I?” he asked curiously. “In what way?”

  “In several ways,” she said, “but in this particular instance I’m referring to the way you view your position in regards to your people.”

  “I’m not sure I understand.”

  “When you went away to school you didn’t tell anyone you were a prince, did you?”

  “Hel…uh…no,” Steel said, his eyes widening with surprise. “I made everyone from Garza promise to keep it to themselves before I’d go.”

  “Why?”

  “Why?” he asked in surprise. “You’re a princess yourself. You must know why.”

  “I do,” she said. “But how many students did you come across while you were in school that were the sons and daughters of royalty, or politicians, or just really wealthy parents?”

  “A larger number than I expected.”

  “And of those, how many made certain that everyone knew their status, or the status of their parents?”

  “Too many,” Steel replied with a grimace. “Neither my brother nor I were raised to believe that our people owed us service because we were princes.”

  “No, you weren’t,” Tani said, beaming up at him. “You were raised to believe that, as a prince of the Khun, you owed service to your people.”

  “Yes, that’s exactly right. It’s part of who I am, Tani.”

  “I know, just as the same belief is part of who I am. That’s why I said you’re a rare man. I’ve met others who believe as you do, as I and my family do, but not many.”

  “Then you’re not complaining?”

  “Complaining?” she asked in surprise. “No, Steel, I have nothing to complain about.”

  “Neither do I,” he said, reaching out to brush her cheek lightly with his fingertips.

  Tani blushed, then searched for a change of topic. “So, how did the men react to the idea of learning battle skills from me?”

  “They’re excited about it. Believe me, after the struggle we’ve been through this past year trying to teach ourselves, we’d be happy if a monkey came to teach us a trick or two.”

  “I think I might be able to do better than a monkey,” she said huffily,
but Steel saw the laughter in her eyes.

  “Good, then let’s go up to the mesa and see if you can teach a bunch of farmers how to take down a Nomen with a trash can lid.”

  Tani’s eyes widened in surprise. “Don’t tell me you showed that vid to some of the men.”

  “Nope,” Steel said smugly. “I showed it to all of them.”

  She blushed again, then poked him in the chest with one finger. “Just remember that if they ask me to demonstrate, you’re playing the Nomen.”

  ***

  Tani and Steel watched the men leave the mesa, both happy with how well practice had gone. It hadn’t taken a lot of effort on Tani’s part, either. She’d just offered advice and tips here and there: information that wasn’t in any user manual. Things that she’d learned as a child and took for granted, but that the Khun had no way of knowing, and which prevented them from excelling beyond a certain point despite all of their hard work.

  “You’re going to have dinner with me today, right?” Steel asked as he took her hand in his, then kissed it.

  “I said I would,” Tani replied, smiling. “What are we having?”

  “Astra made some soup and sandwiches for us and put them in my chiller,” he said.

  “I thought you were going to cook,” she said archly.

  “Believe me, the last thing you want is for me to cook,” Steel said, grinning. “The last time I tried, I nearly burned down our house.”

  “How old were you?”

  “Seventeen,” he replied. “I promised my father that I’d never attempt to cook again without expert supervision.”

  “That’s a big promise to make,” she said.

  “Yes, but it was either that, or banishment.”

  Tani laughed. “In that case, I will remember to never ask you to fix a meal.”

  “I knew you were smart from the moment I set eyes on you,” Steel said, leading the way into his cave. He stoked the fire while Tani got the food Astra had put in the chiller and started the soup heating. They sat together on the hearth rug and ate quietly for a time, both of them hungry from their busy day, especially since they’d skipped lunch.