Halcyon's Hero (Atramento Book 1)

by Nix Whittaker

  Misha concurred. He shocked her by jumping up and running across the drugs. A few piles of the drugs fell down and the ground sparked. The lights overhead flickered and then snapped out. The power probably blew a fuse.

  Marcus grabbed a chair and went to smash Misha. He slipped in as he swung and threw Marcus to the ground. The fight was over in a flash. Hal gasped.

  Misha grabbed Marcus’ hands and wrenched them behind his back while he kept him pinned.

  “Cable ties, Halcyon.”

  There were some spares from the drug packaging so she brought them over.

  “How did you do that? I mean on TV—” He made some loops and slipped them over Marcus wrists.

  “TV shows are not realistic, sweetheart. In a fight like this it’s over quick.”

  “I’ve watched the real things. Like the old Olympics. Those fights weren’t like this.”

  Though the more she thought about it, they weren’t that different. In those fights, the people would come in and there would be a few fast attacks and then they would step back.

  “Those fights aren’t this serious.”

  So, Misha had taken the fight seriously. He even cable tied Marcus’ feet.

  Hal turned to look at the door when Harold said, “It looks like I missed the best part.”

  She bubbled with her pride in Misha. “Yeah, Misha took him down like a flash.”

  She mimicked his move as best as she could.

  Harold helped Misha with the squirming Marcus.

  Marcus whimpered. “Why didn’t they work? I’m supposed to be a God.”

  She said, “Your EM field isn’t right for this, Marcus. I told you.”

  Marcus said, “I was supposed to be a God.” He breathed out, but no one was listening to him anymore.

  Harold slapped him on his back. “Well, the men at the prison will think you are sure pretty with all these tats.”

  Harold shoved him and said as he pushed Marcus out the door. “Don’t worry Miss Smith we will deal with Marcus.”

  Hal knew he could. He had the atramentos as well. Marcus just didn’t realise a healthy aura trumped the atramentos.

  She went up to Misha and asked, “Are you all right?”

  He said, “We will both be all right.”

  She smiled at him. “Still love me?”

  “Until the day I die.”

  She hoped that was a long way off. She hadn’t thought about the longevity effects of the health atramento until Misha had spoken of immortality.

  Chapter Twelve

  Whatinga: November 2086

  Natasha woke up in the middle of the night. She was sticky with sweat. The nightmare lingered. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself. There was no thought of going straight back to sleep so she went to the bathroom.

  With Misha in Hal’s room, she had the bathroom to herself. She leaned against the sink and splashed water on her face. She jerked when for a moment there was a flicker of the man. It was always the man. He was lying on the floor and he was bleeding.

  She crumpled with a small cry. She was going crazy. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. She had seen men and woman who had cracked under the pressure of war.

  It felt like all her insides were turning to liquid and dripping out of her. Soon she would start wearing tin hats and Misha would have to put her into a hospital.

  It would break her father’s heart. Who was she kidding, just the thought of it was breaking her heart. How could she really think of having a life of any kind while she was crazy? No children. No husband.

  She jumped when she heard someone outside. She rubbed at her face. The warehouse went quiet after a long time and she took a deep breath. She couldn’t tell Hal that one of her atramentos was making her mad. Not unless she was going to put it on someone else.

  That meant she couldn’t tell Misha either. Those two were joined at the hip. That meant she would also have to hide it.

  ___

  “Hello, Harold.”

  Hal said without even looking up from her work. She had heard the buzzer, but Natasha had let him in. He stood at the entrance of the warehouse.

  “Why do you insist on calling me that? If you want to call me by my name, you should call me Jephry.”

  She grinned at him and clapped her hands. “I knew you would warm up to me eventually.”

  He snorted and tapped the gadget she was working on. “What is this?”

  “This is to suppress someone’s EM field. I think it might help Marcus.”

  She went back to putting in the last components.

  There was a tense silence and she looked up.

  “What?”

  His face was strained which said a lot about the news he was about to tell her.

  “Marcus committed suicide last night.”

  She ached. She hadn’t killed him herself, but it felt like that. Tapping the screwdriver on the table she made a choice and went back to making the EM field suppressor.

  “I warned him, but he wouldn’t listen,” she added.

  “Men like him will never listen to good advice. It isn’t your problem to solve, Miss Smith.”

  Hal ran a hand through her hair.

  “As long as people believe every problem is someone else’s to solve none will be remedied.”

  He was thoughtful for a long time. “The scientist that created the Weather Shield used to live in this city, you know.”

  “Really?”

  He said, “She hated having people tell her she was a good person for giving away the Shield and helping people build them. They even wanted to give her an award, but she refused. You see, what many people don’t know is that the Weather Shield maker was also the Butcher of Colorado.”

  She hissed, “That killed millions. Is that why she gave away the Shield?”

  He said, “I think so. She is the reason I settled here. She still has descendants living here, though she passed away last year.”

  Hal blinked as she added up clues in her head, “Did you know her?”

  “I knew someone just like her, but I don’t think you can know someone completely like that.”

  “Mmm, Misha would say something like that.”

  Harold had a brief flicker of a smile on his lips. “I see why you two are suited.”

  She grinned at the mention of Misha. She placed the case on the suppressor and sealed it. “Oh? Yeah, and why do you say that?”

  “Your boyfriend has a serious case of Heroism.”

  She hopped off her seat and patted Harold on his chest.

  “Yeah, ain’t it awesome?”

  ___

  Misha corrected the stance of a child. The kid grinned at him and went through the kata, this time getting the move right.

  Lisa said behind him, “You’re really good with the kids.”

  He glanced behind him. She had her arm in a sling. He hadn’t realised she was hurt when they had taken her out of the drug house. She had a rainbow of bruises as well.

  Misha turned back to the children and set them up so he could speak with Lisa without them being disrupted. He approached her cautiously. She appeared older than she had a week ago.

  She shifted nervously. “I know I said I was sorry, but I thought I would come and apologise properly. You’ve only done well for me and my family and I repaid you with poison.”

  Misha said, “You were just looking after the kids. You didn’t know Marcus wouldn’t keep his word.”

  Lisa denied that with a small movement of her head. “What I was, was a fool. I should never have believed he would let the kids go or even me. I was stupid. I think it was because I was scared.”

  He touched her shoulder and she looked up. A pink blush stained her cheeks.

  “You were a hero, Lisa.”

  She shook her head again, this time biting her lip.

  He explained, “Hero is a man or in this case a woman who is afraid to run away. You were scared, but you could have left. You could have said to yourself that Marcus was
going to kill them anyway why stick around. You could have taken the train to the edges and lived your life quite comfortably. Maybe you would have a few sleepless nights, but no one would blame you. No, Lisa, heroes are the ones that stick around for when the crap hits the fan. That makes you a hero.”

  There were tears in her eyes. “Thank you, Misha,” she stopped chewing on her bottom lip and a soft smile came to them, “and I like your girlfriend.”

  Misha said, “Yeah, so do I.” He patted the shoulder he was touching. “Put it behind you, Lisa. You’re more than what happened.”

  She nodded and he felt she might actually believe him.

  ___

  Waha leaned against the gate to Halcyon’s place.

  “Are you going to come in?” Misha asked.

  Waha said, “I just wanted to say goodbye.”

  Misha asked, “What is up?”

  “I’m giving up the life. I think this has shown me we’re living in a house of cards. Enforcer Harold, he has offered me a position amongst the Enforcers. He is going to teach me to be a proper detective instead of chasing down small-time crooks.”

  Misha smiled slightly, silently pleased with this development.

  “It will be better for your aura.”

  Waha said, “You and your bloody auras. You know I don’t believe in that stuff.”

  Misha motioned to the tattoo on his cheek and said, “This has saved my life more than a few times in the last few months.”

  He patted Waha’s shoulder. “Well, come over for dinner when Enforcer Harold comes over.”

  This shocked Waha.

  “Yeah, Halcyon is quite friendly with the Enforcer. Don’t ask me. He just looks like a cold-hearted killer to me. Natasha likes him as well so there must be something to him. You will do well with him.”

  Waha said his good-byes and left.

  When Misha got inside, he heard Natasha and Halcyon talking in the kitchen. He walked carefully and leaned against the door and watched the two of them for a long time. He missed having family around so he was glad to see Natasha. Though, she was looking tired of late. Maybe he would talk to her. Or she was just spending too much time exploring Halcyon’s toys.

  Natasha had drilled his ear off the other day as she spoke about a large clock, she had put together from the bits she had found in the courtyard. She was especially proud of it as she had managed to sell it to one of the local landowners. He had a clock tower on one of his buildings that had once been a look out for snipers during the war and whatever clock was there had long since disappeared.

  Natasha said she would put it in as well for the man and everyone seemed pleased with the deal. He knew Natasha would be alright in the city, no matter what happened.

  Halcyon turned to look at him and asked him, “So, what do you think?”

  He smiled and closed the space between them and kissed Halcyon. She shoved at his chest after a while and said, “I was having a serious conversation here, mister.”

  His smile widened and kissed her again. She pushed him away again. “You are just going to do that until I stop pestering you, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.” His eyes sparkled with his joy in their relationship.

  “Then why should I stop pestering you.”

  She returned the soft smile he gave her.

  He kissed her again and they separated after a long time chuckling together. He looked up to see Natasha was watching them. There was something warm in her eyes.

  “You guys look so pretty when you do that.”

  Misha frowned until he realised she spoke of their auras. His life really had taken a strange turn. One he was pleased he had gone down. Who would have thought accompanying a friend to a tattoo parlour would catch him love and family?

  Halcyon asked, “So, Natasha, are you going to move into Misha’s room?”

  He laughed at her look, then she shook it off and asked, “So, I take it the two of you are official now.”

  Halcyon frowned and he kissed her temple and explained, “She wants to know if we are getting married.”

  Halcyon pulled away and asked, “Hey, wait, are you serious? This is a terrible way to propose.”

  Misha dug in his pocket and passed her a small box, “Does this make it any better?”

  She put her hands on her mouth and tears were in her eyes. She whispered out, “Oh, Misha. Oh, Misha.”

  Halcyon trembled as she took the box and opened it.

  She looked between the ring and his face over and over. He asked, amused, “I have knocked even speech from you, haven’t I?”

  She just nodded her head.

  Natasha said, “I think you can take that as a yes, Misha.”

  Misha took Halcyon into his arms and she actually sobbed against his chest. His own chest ached with the joy he felt at her acceptance.

  Epilogue

  Whatinga: December 2086

  Hal fussed in the mirror with her hair. She had thought about buying a dress but knew she really didn’t have anywhere to wear it and it would be just silly to buy a dress for a phone call. So, instead she had bought hair wax and she styled her hair. She had already tried several and rejected most of them. She had finally opted for a simple slicked look that made her look like a pixie.

  With butterflies in her stomach, she sat in front of the screen. Hal glanced at the clock. It was later than she expected, but well within the appropriate time for a change in time zone.

  With a deep breath, she dialled. Her mother picked up after ten agonizing seconds. She sat down and fluffed her hair and asked, “Who is this?”

  Her mother didn’t look older though she looked different. There were no crease lines in her face and Hal wondered if she had plastic surgery.

  “It’s me, mother, Hal.”

  She squinted and eventually gave in and produced a pair of elegant glasses. “Oh, my goodness, it is you. Wow, I thought your hair would have grown out by now. The last time I saw you your hair was—Well.” She waved her hand above her head, to indicate her baldness.

  Hal sighed. “I decided to keep it short. It’s more practical.”

  “It looks good on you. Oh, my goodness, how long has it been?”

  “Eight years.”

  Her mother waved that off. “Nonsense that can’t be right. It was like only yesterday that I saw you.”

  “It has been eight years and four months to be exact.”

  “Yes, yes, and you always liked to be exact. Well, I doubt you are calling just to catch up.”

  Hal braced herself. “I have news.”

  “Oh, did you finally finish University?”

  She said, “No, what would be the point? No, no, I’m calling to tell you I’m getting married.”

  Her mother tapped her lip with a painted fingernail as she thought. “Well, make sure you have a solid pre-nup. You can never be too prepared in this day and age.”

  Hal huffed. “He doesn’t care about my money mother.”

  Her mother tutted. “You can never be sure, my dear, and it is better to be safe than sorry.”

  Hal shook her head. She couldn’t understand how her mother could draw her into these ridiculous conversations.

  “Mom, I don’t want to argue over this. I just wanted you to know. I emailed dad so he should find out the next time he reads his emails.”

  Her mother waved it all off easily with a flick of her hand. “Yes, yes, brilliant dear. Well, I’ll let you go. These transatlantic video calls are expensive and I wouldn’t want you to waste all your money.”

  “I have enough.”

  She had more than enough to fly her parents’ home for the wedding and back, even at the exorbitant prices for transatlantic flights.

  “I’ve sent you two invites to the wedding though I don’t really expect you guys to come.”

  Her mother’s nose twitched and normally would wrinkle, but whatever she had done made that expression impossible. “Oh, certainly not. Your father has just secured a grant to investigate a new biow
are applications. It is really fascinating stuff.”

  “I’m sure it is, mother. Dad should email me about that. As that is my field.”

  She laughed. “You have a field, my dear? You didn’t even finish high school.”

  “Actually, I did, when I was fourteen. I wrote a thesis on bioware manipulation when I was eighteen, but the doctorate board refused to see it because I’m dad’s daughter. That doesn’t matter. I just wanted you to know I was happy and doing well and that I was getting married to an awesome person.”

  “Well, that is lovely dear.” She realised her mother had tuned out.

  Hal sighed and said softly, “Goodbye, mom.” And ended the call.

  She turned around when Misha said from the stairs overlooking the lounge area. “So, they are still alive. I did wonder.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Misha, there is one thing I want you to be aware of. I don’t really have parents. I have parasitic ancestors who refuse to die.”

  He smiled. “They did one good thing.”

  “Yes, and what is that?”

  “They made you, of course.”

  Other books by Nix Whittaker

  Wyvern Chronicles

  Blazing Blunderbuss

  The Mechanicals

  The Jade Dragon

  Wyvern’s trim and other stories

  Ruby Beyond Compare

  Wyvern Mysteries

  Lady Golden Hand

  Model Humans

  Model: Serenity

  Model: Scribe

  Model: Rustic

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