Halcyon's Hero (Atramento Book 1)

by Nix Whittaker

  “Ah, my beautiful Tinker. Please tell me you have brought me that lovely weapon you promised.”

  He had called her Tinker when they had first met. It was a joke as he said he was the Tailor for a new society in the neighbourhood and she could be his Tinker. All he needed was a Soldier and a Sailor to make a set.

  “I promised nothing, Marcus. You threatened me that if I didn’t make you a weapon, you would destroy me. I think I remember quite vividly telling you to go shove that threat up your hole.”

  He sneered at her show of bravado. He gestured his hand at her and then at the room.

  “Well, then what are you doing here?”

  He snickered with his sycophants. They tittered with him, which only made her feel ill. She hated what he represented. Not one of these people had a thought of their own and if they did Marcus would ruthlessly grind them down to a fine powder and probably in front of the others, so they never forgot who the top dog was around here. Well, she was about to challenge the alpha in his own territory.

  “I believe I want to return the threat. If you ever send your goons against me again, I will destroy you.”

  She hoped he didn’t hear the tremor in her voice.

  “You and what army?” he countered casually.

  Marcus took a sip from his drink and appeared incredibly smug.

  “I don’t need an army, Marcus, you know that.”

  He ignored her words and waved to two of his men. They tried to grab her, but she wasn’t stupid. She had added to her atramentos. She threw one thug up against the wall with one hand and backhanded the other. He flew across the room and slammed into the bar. There was a tense silence. The man under her hand struggled and kicked his feet against the wall only to remain pinned. She dropped him and his feet crumpled under him.

  Hal stepped away and walked up to Marcus. There was a coffee table between them so he remained relaxed, despite the flicker of emotion in his eyes that was possibly fear but most likely anger.

  “I can protect myself, Marcus. But so you know I can follow through on my threat I have a gift for you.”

  She placed the device on the table. It wasn’t large and it appeared innocuous. That was the point.

  Marcus was not amused. “What the heck is that?”

  It made a buzzing sound as it charged. “That is right now corrupting all your data. You can keep it. For, well, another fifty seconds.” They would most likely try to turn it off but there was only an on switch to the device.

  Hal turned and left. She shook with reaction. She wasn’t a brave person and confronting Marcus was probably the scariest thing she had ever done. She had hoped she could leave with some drama, but Marcus always wanted the last word.

  “Don’t think this will make you safe, Tinker Baby, I will go after your weakest. I will skin them alive until they beg for death.”

  She resisted the urge to look over her shoulder and left club Hades with a chill in her spine.

  ___

  Misha opened the door and looked down at Halcyon. She shuddered. Very determinedly she said, “You are fired.”

  He cocked an eyebrow and then waved her inside. She sighed and followed him in. Something was bothering her.

  “How do you do that? I mean you’re always so calm.”

  He pulled out a chair for her at the kitchen table. She sat down as he made her some faux-coffee.

  He said over his shoulder, “You look flustered. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

  Watching her out the corner of his eye his senses were hyperaware of every breath she took. Her heart was beating slower now. Whatever had flustered her before, was leaving her slowly.

  “I found the guy who organised my attack. He threatened you.” That explained why she was upset. He was amused that she settled by just being near him.

  Misha placed the coffee substitute in front of her. Coffee plants had died out almost completely during global warming. Though, there were rumours they were growing them quite successfully in City States that used to be England.

  She wrapped her hands around her cup and her heart finally settled to where it should be. He placed a hand on her shoulder to add a little bit of comfort. She took a sip of her coffee with a pleased sigh. He wasn’t sure if it upset him that she didn’t react to his touch or pleased. Sitting down opposite her he would set her mind at ease about the threats. “I can look after myself.”

  “He’ll use guns and lots of goons. He likes his goons,” Halcyon wrinkled her nose at that statement.

  Misha shrugged and rubbed the side of his face with his hand. He wasn’t the kind to brag so he didn’t explain about his training he had received from Ty.

  “Have you told anyone about me?”

  She frowned. He could tell she was trying to figure out where his thoughts were running. “No.”

  “I have told no one I’m working at your place. Let me give Waha a call. I’ll make sure he has kept his mouth shut. If I keep away for a while your enemy won’t know about me at all.” Whoever it was who had threatened her.

  Misha watched her as she slowly sipped her coffee thoughtfully.

  “Were you followed?” He asked. His training kicking in and asking what he needed to be answered.

  Halcyon shook her head, her eyes unfocused as she concentrated more on her thoughts rather than on her surroundings.

  “I dashed after I kind of set the cat amongst the pigeons. He wouldn’t be able to send someone after me and I also took a trip through Grandma Harvey.” Grandma Harvey was a marketplace and there was no way she would have kept a follower after that place. There were dozens of places to escape and disappear.

  Halcyon looked down at her coffee surprised to see she had almost finished it.

  “Thank you for the coffee, but I think you are still fired.”

  Misha smiled and stood up; she was so fierce when she was trying to protect him. He ran his fingers over the nape of her neck and revelled in the feel of her hair on his fingers. He took her empty cup from her. She let her hand graze his and he relished the casual reciprocation of his touch. He was glad he had taken the senses atramento.

  Halcyon joked. “I suppose I could have hired you as a bodyguard.”

  “I am trained.” That was as close as he would get to telling her he was trained to kill. The point was not to need those particular skills. Most assumed because he liked the soft sciences and that he preached non-violence to his students, that he had no other facet of himself.

  Halcyon turned to him sharply, amazement made her eyes wider. She must have heard something in his tone so he explained a little more.

  “I usually teach at the Centre. I’m an expert in several fighting styles and in firearms of almost every kind.”

  “Well, if you need a bodyguard job, you know where to find me.”

  She was about to leave, except that he wanted her to stay. He realised why and didn’t analyse it any further.

  He took a risk and said, “I’m about to make dinner. You’ll have to eat and you won’t be able to go out much while you deal with your goon.”

  Misha saw he had hooked Halcyon’s interest when she hesitated. Her fingers gracefully tapped the surface of his table as she thought her options through.

  “What are you making?” He knew he had her then.

  “Nothing special, macaroni and cheese.”

  “Mmm, I like cheese.” He took that as permission and started on dinner. He was warm inside. It was a while since he had a girlfriend and no one near as interesting as Halcyon.

  “Cheese and milk, you spoil me.” She commented on the menu.

  Misha hesitated, worried for a minute that he might disappoint her with his cooking. “It is only goat cheese.”

  Halcyon said as she sat back, “I don’t think I’ve had cow’s milk since I was five.”

  Cows were rare. When people were starving and so were the cows, they had made a good meal. Goats, on the other hand, were hardy and could survive pretty much on anything.


  “You know I’ve thought about digging out the courtyard and putting in grass and getting a couple of goats,” Halcyon announced. He chuckled. Only Halcyon would seriously think of creating a micro-farm in the middle of the city.

  “I can see it now. Goats climbing over wrecks. We’ll have to plait braids into your hair and you can yodel to them.”

  She had to laugh as well at the image he created.

  Chapter Four

  Edge: April 2086

  Natasha leaned heavily on the wrench. She was a slight thing compared to her father and needed all the leverage her body could achieve. If anything was loose, there could be a disaster later on. Once she finished, she patted the old desalinator fondly. The sea was a roar in the background, which soothed her as she worked. The sun was out, but it was getting colder and she tugged on her wool coat as she looked around the water farm. Dunes of salt surrounded them. Without the luxury of being under a Weather Shield this far out on the edge of the City State the weather made the dunes into glistening silver mountains.

  Large pipes lead further inland to the city. With people crammed into small areas because of the Weather Shield, shortages of everything was inevitable. Her father had put in this desalinator plant during the upheaval of the climate change. That was one reason the city had survived. Though, he was forced to hide out in sea caves a few times as the fighting had overwhelmed the area. Things were different now. For almost 20 years now there was relative peace.

  The plant, her father had given his whole life to keep running, was now old and constantly needed repairs. She rubbed her hand across her forehead and headed back to the house for lunch. Stomping her boots in the mudroom she tried to knock the sand and salt off.

  Living so close to the sea, they often had sand everywhere. The worst was when it got into the beds or in food. She could hear her father as he muttered in the office.

  Hanging up her coat on one of the hooks her mother had reclaimed from old drawer handles and hand-painted. They were done with tiny little flowers. A design she had gotten from Misha’s mother.

  “Is it bad?” she asked her father as she went to lean on the doorframe of the office.

  He looked up and frowned at her.

  “Bad, sweetheart.”

  For months now, they had struggled with money. Today her father had sat down to try to eke out some way to pay the balloon payment due at the end of the month.

  Her father seemed older lately. Ever since her mother had died, he had aged rapidly. His hair was no longer blonde, but a silvery grey. He would say he was lucky to grow old. And he would know as he had lost many friends over the years to be grateful for the life he had.

  “We were so careful. Surely, we can find the money somewhere? Maybe if we sold something.”

  She sat down on the old couch in his small office. It had seen better days and she could see the upholstery had split. If she had half her mother’s talent, she could make it look new with a bit of material and a few pins. The house was going downhill in many ways since her mother had died.

  “The house maybe,” he rubbed his face with his hand, “I’ve been thinking about it. The house is too big for the two of us. You won’t want to settle here after I die, so there is no need to keep the place. I’ll try to sell the house. It isn’t going to be in time for the deadline, we’re going to have to take the penalty.”

  “Ah, dad, that almost doubles what we owe.” It forced them to take on debt in order to update some of their equipment that was corroded through by the saltwater. He shrugged nonchalantly though she knew it must hurt to sell mother’s house. A house she had adored and decorated.

  “I know, but we can’t avoid it. When I sell the house, I’ll stay with Murphy. She says it’ll be all right.”

  Murphy was his long-term lady friend. When her mother had died, he had taken a long time to get over it. Murphy was there to take advantage of her father’s grief. Unfortunately, Natasha and Murphy didn’t get along. It wasn’t that her father took comfort in her, no; it was because she was brash and what her mother would have called kitsch and not the nice kind. Her father could do better.

  “Well, I thought you could go see Misha. He’d be able to get you a job in the city. I can run this place on my own for a while. Maybe take on some students part-time.”

  Natasha closed her eyes for a second. She loved living by the sea, but she knew her father was right. The water farm was outside the area of the Weather Shield and it was a tough place to live. There was a very small community who fished when the weather allowed. There wouldn’t be any work for her here. She had thought about working on one of the State farms except she needed a reference for that and certain qualifications. Food was a serious matter in this day and age. When her father was her age, almost half of the world’s population had starved to death or died in wars to gain food.

  Natasha also knew her father encouraged her to go because there were no suitable young men in their community. She was twenty-four and her dad worried she would never find that special someone. She didn’t want to leave, but she knew she would have to.

  ___

  Whatinga: April 2086

  Misha stopped punching the bag and took a deep breath. He turned around when Henry said, “Got a lot of energy there?”

  Misha said gruffly, “Just a little frustrated. I thought I would take it out on something inanimate.”

  Henry nodded wisely. Misha grabbed his water bottle and decided to take a short break. He sat down on one of the benches that ran along the wall of the Centre. Henry sat down next to him. They were silent for a long time, then Misha started the conversation. “It’s a girl.”

  Henry smiled softly. “You’ve had one of those before.”

  “Not one like this. I mean, Henry she’s smart and beautiful. But she’s in trouble.”

  “Isn’t that your usual kind?”

  Misha hissed at the implication, but had no retort as Henry in his great wisdom wasn’t wrong.

  “I liked her before all of this trouble.” Misha ran a hand through his hair and sighed, “Worse, is that I can actually help her with her trouble not like—well the others.”

  Henry was quiet for a long time, then asked, “Will she want you to help with this trouble?”

  He half chuckled at that thought. “No, she’ll not thank me for pushing my nose into her problems. She made it quite clear. Then, she—” He took another sip of his water so he could put his thoughts in some semblance of sense. “She hinted that if I wanted to, I could work with her to solve her trouble. I’m not sure if she’s offering more, or she’s so naïve she doesn’t realise what she was hinting.”

  Henry pondered for a while, then asked, “Do you want what she is hinting at?”

  “Heck, yeah. I wanted that from the beginning. I was willing to work slowly until she—well until I could seduce her and then she throws this spanner into the works.”

  “It seems clear. You have two choices. Cut her out or jump in the deep end.”

  Misha said, “Thanks, oh, Wise one. I couldn’t have ever figured that out on my own.”

  Henry stood and patted him on his back. “Once you make your choice, you won’t need to beat up poor defenceless gym equipment. Think of them.”

  Henry chuckled as he walked away.

  ___

  Hal was angry. She wasn’t sure why she was angry until she kicked a large inanimate object and swore. “Why the heck did Misha put you there?”

  She hadn’t seen Misha in a week and she missed him. He was always so easy to be around. Usually, when she had people around her, she got annoyed with them. They were very slow, or they always got in the way. Not Misha, he helped where he could and he never tried to poke his nose in her work.

  She respected his calmness.

  Man, she missed his calm. She let out a sigh and hated herself for reacting this way.

  He made her feel like everything would be all right even when the world went to hell in a handbasket.

  Hal squinted at t
he monitors. She had set out more cameras over the week. There was always a thug standing on the corner of her street. He was the obvious watcher. There were others, usually children. What kind of man used children like that? No matter what she thought about the whole issue of using children in gangs, there was one truth she had to face. There were watchers all around her place. She hadn’t even been out to get food. It was a good thing she was stocked up and she had a hydroponics room in one corner of the large warehouse.

  Everyone was funny about growing stuff ever since the climate change had screwed with the weather. Everyone had hydroponics now. She had taken it a little further and she put in an industrial-sized freezer so she could snap freeze her produce. She had enough food to see her out for a year if she was willing to eat carrots and onions for months on end. At least she didn’t have to worry about scurvy.

  Hal snorted at the direction of her thoughts. She returned to setting up booby-traps. She wasn’t sure how long Marcus would wait, she would be ready for him when he came. She thought of adding the senses tattoo, but her rig wasn’t set up for her to do her back or neck so she would have to leave it.

  Hal was out in the courtyard when Enforcer Harold came up to the gate. She rested on the long pole she used to wedge things into place.

  “What can I do for you, Harold?”

  He glared at her informal use of his name. “That is Enforcer Harold to you.”

  She smiled; he was predictable in that he always reacted to her teasing. She opened the gate. He looked around and asked, “Don’t you get lost in here?”

  The surly Enforcer instantly lifted her mood. “Some days. Did you just come to give me some Feng Shui tips?”

  He said, “I’ve heard rumours and I was concerned.”

  She tapped her lips with a finger as she pretended to think. “Ah, you heard about Marcus wanting something I have. Nothing to worry about. That thing I smashed. Well, that’s what he wanted.”

  He nodded his head thoughtfully. He obviously had another reason for the personal visit as he started to pick up things and stared at them as he spoke, “Marcus has been on the rise lately and if he got hold of some kind of weapon—” He left his sentence to drift off.