by Pam Uphoff
He rolled a bit and eyed Ikku.
"I suppose this would be a bad time to mention that when we were the bullies of the multiverse, the Directorate may have needed some brutes and rapists, but these days they're close to being more dangerous to their own side than the enemy, and they have a poor grasp of just who is the enemy."
Ikku's lips thinned. "Must I also endure a lecture from a Clostuone Upcomer?"
"Yes. You'll finally have to listen to me when I say that the school needs to stop accepting students who are psychologically unsafe to encourage in the behaviors they already have trouble controlling." Oh, excellent. The ex-governor's irritation was clear in his mind as the man glared over his shoulder at Ebsa. Well, not clear, but getting there. Good enough to try something else.
He curved his fingers carefully away from his body, away from his other hand. A shield, a physical shield, around his right hand, and flowing off his fingers just a few centimeters . . . The strain on his shoulders eased suddenly.
Holy crap! It worked! He kept his left arm behind himself, worked his right out from under himself and reached out to the Sensei's legs. Again the very careful slice. Ikku's eyes widened a bit.
Movement drew Ebsa's eyes to the men guarding the door, as they tensed and raised their guns.
Small cross-section. Very small cross-section.
He aimed at the man . . . hesitated . . . Am I insane? My life is in danger, here! I'm fully justified in killing. He looked at the gun.
The Push spell was basic, narrowing it, advanced. He aimed a needle of magic at the pistol.
The little laser gun's power pack exploded.
The guard recoiled, screaming, clutching his hand, falling.
The second guard poked his gun around the corner and started shooting. Flashes of light, a scream. Ebsa's second needle missed, a snap as cracks radiated from the hole in the concrete.
The guard rushed through the doorway. His horrified "City? City!" echoed back . . . and a thump.
Ebsa felt nothing from the corridor. Ha!
Broadened his push and hit the whole room, tumbling people and sparse furniture. The swinging lights cast moving shadows. Fast moving, violent shadows.
Ra'd was as good as invisible, until silence fell and he reached to stop the lights' movement.
Ebsa shoved himself upright and carefully sliced the ropes on his ankles. "Paer? Orcu said . . . "
"She's fine. She was just playing along while they led her all over. I was shadowing her, hoping to find you when I felt Ajny's panic and pain. Cut over a couple of blocks and grabbed him. Idiot thought he was dying—little scratch on his shoulder—and gave us the address." His teeth flashed. "And no, I didn't kill a single one of them. City was shot by his own side."
Ebsa finished untying Ikku and helped him to his feet. Then the Presidential guards, weapons out, entered, with Paer on their heels.
Ebsa returned her kiss with interest. Then sighed. "I was really looking forward to sleeping in this morning. I suppose this means we'll be spending the morning in the police station instead."
The guards all nodded. The nearest grinned. "The police are on the way. They're coming to really hate you guys."
Paer picked up his white parka and handed it to him.
He frowned at it. "How did this get here?"
Ra'd grinned. "I borrowed it. Best snow camouflage around."
Ebsa snickered. "All right. I'll never complain about my Mom's taste in clothes again. So which one of us gets to freeze on the way to the police station?"
"Me. You've spent five hours gassed, drugged, and lying on a cold floor."
"Gassed . . . Oh, yeah . . . I need a shower. Badly."
Ikku paced across the floor. Stopped and stared at the cracked wall. "Twelve meters. A half-trained Clostuone. With some methelformaline still in his system."
Ebsa shrugged into the nice warm coat. "That's 'Upcomer Closey Bastard.' Get it right."
He ignored Ikku's muttering as the police charged in and handcuffed everyone except Paer and her guards.
Six hours and two truth matches later he grabbed breakfast then headed for the dorm. Showered in an immaculately clean bathroom. Fell into bed. Didn't bother to check if classes were running or not.
Chapter Sixteen
25 Shawaal 1403
Apart from sidelong glances—lots of them—and the respectful distance the other students gave them—possibly wanting to be out of the blast radius—the last weeks were quiet.
Another press conference from Disco.
Wolfson still looked tired, and obviously stifled a yawn twice.
Repeated information about replacing genes, adding genes . . . even subtracting genes.
And finally, a question about the cannibal world.
"The Helios? We're monitoring and tracking them. They kept enough infrastructure to keep the lights on, and they have the knowledge of how to force a merge. We first detected what we think might have been gates, or possibly the very start of the merge, which was their fifth merge, so I suspect they've just started crossing our familiar part of the multiverse. They need to be watched. We need to know, before they start, if they are going to try to merge with another populated world . . . and which one."
That got indrawn breaths from both the forum and the lecture hall.
"And while we are trying to figure out what worlds they can physically attack, it . . . would be . . . a hopefully utterly unneeded precaution, to consider how you would evacuate your worlds, at need. " Wolfson sounded a bit breathless as he said that.
Flash back to the world he couldn't save? Or does he know more than he is saying?
"So, please, let's settle the bio-attack peacefully, and concentrate on a much worse threat."
Another question from the audience. An Earther, by the accent. "You put up dozens of gates on that world. Why can't we have more? Why can't all our crowded cities each have a world of their own so they can spread out?"
"Each city . . . " Wolfson looked boggled. "Umm, cross-dimensional suburbs? Umm, we negotiate gates with the highest level of government, not city level. However . . . once a nation or Empire or whatever vets and approves a world, I suppose gates to that world, from various places, cities, would be easy enough. That's . . . just an internal issue. Talk to your own government."
A few more questions. Angry demands that the bioattack be reversed immediately.
The tired Wolfson just sighed and walked away.
So, more reports to write.
Ebsa contemplated the Helios microverse. The possibility of another merge.
And the man who'd asked about the gates in every city . . . a fascinating idea. And a way to build a lot of infrastructure on a nice world, just in case one of the worlds had to be evacuated.
Had Wolfson planted the man in the audience to bring the subject to the fore? The man had had an Earther accent. Was Earth about to be hit? City planning or pre-building for a planet-wide evacuation?
He was going to have trouble keeping this report down to a reasonable size.
Chapter Seventeen
3 Ramadan 1403
The last weeks of classes were peaceful.
A very subdued Ajny tried to avoid both sides. The bullies who'd been outside when City was killed were back in school. Blob had been judged to have been medically sidelined at the time, and was back. The ex-governor, Ilhe, and four other students were still in jail, charges of kidnapping and murder pending.
At least there was no bull about blind errand runners, with the Governor right there.
Finals were not bad.
His digitization of the List of Warriors was sent for approval. It would be months before it was published. But he still pulled a 4.9 for the class.
And good scores in everything else. Got both rifle and handgun certs.
And . . . accepted an invitation to Paris for the winter holiday.
After all, he needed to double-check a couple of things in the book.
And get beaten up by Isakson,
hauled outside to demonstrate his magical reach and learn a couple of other nasty possible ways to use magic offensively. But he also managed to recruit help in building his present for Paer, and secrecy almost until the Eid.
"Two stalls and a tackroom?" Paer walked in and out, frowned at the props under the timbered floor of the small stable.
"I think your bubble can hold it all." Ebsa shifted nervously. "Then you can put Crystal and Raccio in storage, so to speak."
"Ooooooh! And take them with me. Where'd I leave my bubble?" She dashed off.
Ra'd thumped his shoulder. "Good job."
"Yeah, well, you're going to have to wait till the Eid for your present."
Ebsa admired the T-rex claw book ends. "Right. I remember you collecting some trophies."
Paer was giggling over her toothy necklace.
Ra'd grinned and opened the box Ebsa handed him . . . blinked.
"About time you upped your game."
"Oil paints." Ra'd pulled out the brushes.
Paer pointed to a large flat present. "There might just happen to be some canvases around somewhere."
"I haven't painted since I was . . . thirteen . . . "
Ebsa shrugged. "Well, we can just return it all and . . ."
Ra'd made a rude gesture. "Thank you. I love my presents."
Ebsa grinned and picked up the watch Paer had tried to be casual about giving him. He wasn't about to ask how much it cost. "And it automatically resets to local time, even Across?"
"Well, not New Worlds. I couldn't find one for Exploration Teamers."
It went well with his inherited suit. Gorgeous charcoal grey alpaca wool blend . . . he'd had to do a quick tape and iron job on the sleeves and pant legs, definitely had to wear a belt, and it was a bit wide in the shoulders . . . three silk ties, handmade shoes, a bit too large.
He looked good, and he only tripped once.
Then back to school for the last semester.
"Oh, One. I'm in Advanced Martial Arts." Ebsa glared at Ra'd's laugh.
"That's what you get for opening the man's eyes." Ra'd grinned. "But don't think for a minute you're going to beat me again in the sorting."
Ebsa grinned back, and let the silence lengthen.
Excerpt from an upcoming publication
First Assignment
Pam Uphoff
Chapter Two
18 Rajab 1404 yp
Gate City, North American Region, One World
Ra'd gave the seventh floor of Directorate Headquarters a quick scan. The building was smaller than he'd expected, but then each subdirectorate had a building—or several—inside the Secured Gate Area. Headquarters was outside to make outsiders' visits easier. Still . . . He'd expected more.
The woman at the front desk was . . . ordinary. Oh, she had the glow of a Oner, but it was both low level and rather weakly shielded.
"One" forbid they should hire a Halfer or worse! Gasp! A Multitude for a perfectly ordinary job.
She scanned the chip he extended, read something on her comp screen, and sent him off to a corner office, or rather office suite. Complete with another secretary.
This female watchdog, Gauj, according to the little triangle on her desk, had the unmistakable glow of a trained Princess showing just as much and not a hair more than she intended.
She nodded her grey head toward the inner door. "The subdirector will see you. Go in."
Ra'd tapped and entered.
Subdirector Ebko was a big man, heavy as well as tall. Muscular, the way he stalked around his desk. Pissed, from the way he crossed his arms and leaned back against it.
"So. You're the fool who fell for a Fallen bitch, and derailed an elegant spur-of-the-moment gambit to finally get the government off its ass and doing something to stop Disco."
Ra'd controlled his breathing and raised an eyebrow. "I believe the correct term is 'witch' with a double-u."
The subdirector ignored him. "You brought down the Governor of North America and the Police Chief of New York District. You got Director Ujmw fired."
Ra'd decided to ignore all that. "What do you want to stop Disco from doing?"
"Controlling the Empire. Stopping us from going anywhere we want, whenever we want." Ebko scowled. "And don't think you're hot enough property to get away with anything here. You'll be watched, you little native lover. You've compromised your security rating, and we don't like traitors. Now, we're going to take the training you had at the school, and complete it. We're reforming several teams, including Team Twenty-nine, of which you are now a member. You will be training with them, and working with them as soon as we've tested you, and fixed any holes in your experience."
He reached back to his desk and flipped a chip to Ra'd. "Go. And remember, we've got our eyes on you. Don't fail again."
Ra'd caught the chip, turned and stepped to the door.
"You will not ever see that bitch again. She's used you, and you are done."
Ra'd paused, then turned the knob and walked out. I cannot not hit my putative superior on the first day. Dammit.
He ran the chip into his mini comp. Orders, this time to show up at a building in the SGA. Right. I've had the warning from on high. Now I can meet the people I'll actually be working with.
Or get evaluated with the rest of the incoming Teamers.
Ra'd got a glare for being late, and took the end position in the line up. The Team Track part of his graduating class. No one got onto Teams who hadn't come from the Directorate School.
Ape and Blob. Unfortunately very well known. Ed, Oh Hey, Yuck, and Idjit . . . also well known. Not nice, but followers. The other three were less well known, He'd only spent one year in the same martial arts class with them. Not bullies like the others, but also not friends.
None of the women. I wonder if they are being evaluated separately, or if, like Paer, they weren't assigned to Teams?
Enbw , a grey hulk the older Teamers called Elbow, was running their evaluations.
"We'll start with Martial Arts. The Leaders of Teams Five, Twelve, Fifteen, and Twenty-one will observe. Team Twenty-nine will assist, as they're only short a single man."
First good news. I won't be with any of my fellow brutes. But following the direction of Elbow's gaze he eyed the eleven men. Four standing a little apart from the seven, and every damned one of them glowing with a taste of violence, eager near-anger. Hard to tell from a distance, but at least some of them had that twist of hunger he associated with the men who enjoyed the worst elements of their jobs.
Great. One of those Teams. One trusts their orders are to not rape, beat or kill the natives of any foreign worlds. Any more.
"Dress out, roll out the mats, and lets get to work."
Ape snickered. "Now you're going to get what you deserve."
What I'm Reading
Gun Porn. Monster Hunters International is the best. Totally over the top action, with plenty of details of the equipment needed for proper Monster Hunting. I've fallen behind, mostly because Larry Correia has opened the door and let a few other authors in. I've just started John Ringo's second contribution: Monster Hunters Memoirs: Sinners.
Scaling the Rim by Dorothy Grant. First book from an experienced editor. Wow! Stop wasting your time editing other peoples' stuff, we want more!
Big Blue by David Burkhead. Godzilla vs Cthulhu. Not, mind you, that he actually calls them that. Excellent big Monster battles. Not into monsters? Try Plague Station. A short story with an open end. Space opera? Medical SF? Zombies on a Space Station? Nope, not a comedy. This is a good solid look at how a small isolated population deals.
If you like historical mysteries, you already know about Brother Cadfael. If you don't read historicals, I highly recommend them anyway. They start here: A Morbid Taste For Bones.
About the Author
I was born and raised in California, and have lived more than half my life now in Texas.
Wonderful place. I caught almost the first bachelor I met here, and we’re coming u
p on our thirty-seventh anniversary.
My degree's in Geology. After working for an oil company for almost ten years as a geophysicist, I “retired” to raise children. As they grew, I added oil painting, sculpting and throwing clay, breeding horses, volunteering in libraries and for the Boy Scouts, and treasurer for a friend’s political campaign. Sometime in those busy years, I turned a love of science fiction into a part time job reading slush (Mom? Someone is paying you to read??!!)
I've always written, published a few short stories. But now that the kids have flown the nest, I'm calling writing a full time job.
Directorate School was my seventeenth novel, and first in the spin-off series, of which this is the third. I've also issued four collections of novellas and short stories, and published other short stories separately.
I've got two new books in the Wine of the Gods Universe under way, and two short stories and a novella in The Directorate series. And then a third "Zoey Ivers" book in the Doors series. So I may manage to squeeze in a few more titles before the end of the year.
I need to find the time to get more books out in print, out to Kobo, Sony, B&N . . . I need to find the time to invent a time machine . . .
Email [email protected] to join the mailing list for notifications of new releases
Other Books by Pam Uphoff
Wine of the Gods Series:
Outcasts and Gods
Exiles and Gods (Three Novellas)
The Black Goats
Explorers
Spy Wars
One Alone
Comet Fall
A Taste of Wine (Seven Tales)
Dark Lady
Growing Up Magic (Four Novellas)
Young Warriors