by Alix Nichols
Voqras sat back, all interest gone from his eyes.
“But I do wish I knew,” Nyssa said. “I’d love to reach out to them, ask them to tell me more about Areg. I always argued with him when we were young, before the war. I wish I’d been a better sister to him. I wish—”
Voqras stood and bowed his head. “We’re done. Thank you for your time, Lady Sebi. Commander.”
Disappointment all over his face, Ultek stood, too.
Heidd’s face remained inscrutable as he accompanied his “buddies” to the door.
As she sagged in her chair, recalling her long-winded and obnoxiously forthright answers, it occurred to Nyssa that her ignorance had turned out to be a blessing.
And that Heidd hadn’t failed her.
5
Lord Boggond picked up the glass on the lectern and drank slowly, surveying the room.
The Royal Theater was packed for his talk, just as he’d wanted. Except he knew that most of the people present tonight had showed because they’d been told to attend by their employers. Areg Sebi and Nollan Dreggo had filled this same room without the tiniest announcement in the Orogate Daily.
There was nothing for it. The populace would always hate those who held power and idealize those who contended for it.
Good thing Sebi and Dreggo were gone!
With less than a year until the Endorsement Vote, it was highly unlikely that a credible, serious candidate would come out of the blue and sway the people’s hearts. Achlins Ghaw was a remote possibility, but Voqras was onto him. Hopefully, he’d be able to silence Ghaw without resorting to another assassination or execution. The bodies were beginning to pile up.
Lord Boggond put his glass down and raised his hand, to command attention. “People of Eia.”
The room grew quiet.
“Since I became caretaker governor, we won the war, kicked the invaders out of Eia and began to rebuild our realm. If you endorse me as your governor this year, I will make sure that Eia prospers again like it had before the war.”
He paused to let his supporters cheer and chant his name. But before he realized what was happening, boos and heckles sounded from the back of the room, from the sidelines, and even from the front.
“We’d already won the war when you got the job!” someone shouted.
“We’re still as poor as a year ago!” another voice chimed in.
“My children don’t have enough to eat!” a woman cried. “My husband is dead, and I’m too sick to work. We survive thanks to our neighbors. The vestals help us, too. But I’ve seen nothing from the government.”
Lord Boggond turned toward the woman. She stood up, unafraid to be seen and identified. Her thin face and sunken, red eyes spoke of despair.
“My boss is going under.” A man not far from her stood up, too. “A bunch of us will lose our jobs. No one has money to buy our goods anymore. How will I provide for my family?”
People around him grumbled sympathetically.
“It’s worse than during the war,” the man said. “Whatever you’ve been rebuilding, Your Grace, I haven’t seen it.”
“Murderer!” someone yelled from the back. “The Liberator will rise and punish you!”
Lord Boggond peered into the crowd, trying to single out the man who’d said that. Voqras and one of his cyborgs stepped forward, scanning the room.
And then the humming set in. Scores of people droned aggressively, with their mouths shut tight to make it harder to detect them. Just like they’d done at Sebi’s public flogging.
The cyborgs closed ranks in front of Lord Boggond.
“It might be wise to leave now, Your Grace,” Voqras said, glancing at him over his shoulder.
He was probably right.
But if Lord Boggond left now, he was going to lose this room’s vote. Not just that of Sebi’s diehard supporters, who were already lost anyway, but of all the others, too. And there was no guarantee Ultek would be able to rig the vote with the LOR Certified Observers breathing down his neck, recounting the votes and double-checking everything.
No, Lord Boggond couldn’t leave now.
He needed every single one of those undecided, teetering people on whom Yemella’s propaganda machine seemed to work.
Speaking of whom. Lord Boggond craned his neck and surveyed the area backstage. There she was, her spotty snout peeking from the curtain gap. She raised her eyebrows in question. He gave her a small nod.
Stepping out, she marched to the front of the stage. “Your attention, please!”
Her voice was shrill and loud enough to hush the room. Even the humming ceased.
“Before we wrap up His Grace’s talk,” she said, “I’d like to invite some very special guests to come up here to relay their message.”
She pointed to a group in the first row, waved encouragingly, and began to clap.
One by one two boys and two girls between the ages of five and eight mounted the stage.
“Meet students of the Public Primary School Number 24,” Yemella said before pointing them out. “Kari and Dnek are from menial families. Zoddya and Heirrod are proficient class. They’ve traveled with their teacher all the way from the Frontier Zone to address you today.”
One of the girls carried a huge bouquet of flowers, which she handed to Lord Boggond, bowing prettily. He pressed a hand to his heart and kissed the top of her head before accepting it.
“What is it you’d like to tell us, children?” Yemella asked them.
The older boy stepped forward.
Was that Dnek or Heirrod? Oh, for goodness sake, who cares.
“We’re here to tell you what our school has been doing for Eia’s recovery,” the boy said.
He rambled on about the afternoons and Aheya-days that he, his classmates, his teachers and the parents spent planting trees and helping government contractors repair the damaged school building.
The money for that project had been provided by LOR, but the boy wasn’t going to say that. Nor was he going to mention that his school was the only reconstruction project Lord Boggond had launched with the LOR money. There were better—more strategic—uses for it than fixing sewers and roofs.
And Lord Boggond was the only one who saw the big picture.
When the boy was done, the younger girl recited a silly poem she had composed to the glory of Eia, earning a round of enthusiastic applause. Before the group left the stage, they sang Eia’s anthem. The performance was well-practiced, the children’s voices clear and harmonious, and their eyes bright with genuine feeling.
The room gave them a standing ovation.
While the audience clapped, Lord Boggond thanked everyone for their support and went backstage with the children, followed by the cyborgs and Yemella. After that, the children were dispatched to their hotel, and Lord Boggond and his entourage loaded into his vehicle.
“Good job, my dame,” Voqras said to Yemella.
She squirmed a little, visibly pleased. “You’re too kind.”
“Yemella is a professional,” Lord Boggond said, knowing how much his praise meant to her.
The cyborg nodded. “Governor Horbell would’ve said the same thing, and he excels at propaganda.”
Yemella’s snub-nosed face expanded into a coy smile. “I have other tricks up my sleeve, Captain. All manner of tricks.”
Lord Boggond chose not to dwell on the sexual innuendo in her voice or on the way she ogled the cyborg’s sculpted chest. She never looked at him that way. Then again, she was such an unappealing female that even if he hadn’t lost his libido after the poisoning episode in his teens, he wouldn’t have wanted her to lust after him.
“Why do they call you ‘hive cyborgs’?” Yemella asked Voqras, batting her lashes.
“Because we connect our brains through a powerful machine to multiply our analytical capacity,” he said with pride.
A machine kindly provided by Horbell. Lord Boggond smirked.
But Voqras’s attention was on Yemella. “Our official name i
s ‘modified cyborgs.’ We’re also called ‘winged demons’ on occasion.”
She pressed her palms to her cheeks. “Ooh—sexy.”
“That said, we’re just bionic Ra-humans.” Voqras shrugged. “The only difference between us and LOR’s glorified Enforcers is that we’re more advanced.”
“That’s not how LOR officials describe you in their briefing notes,” Lord Boggond couldn’t help interjecting. “I just received another one advising all member realms to ban facilities like the one where you were modified and to ‘de-hive’ all of you.”
“Why?” Yemella asked.
“The League of Realm says they’re becoming a threat to peace in the galaxy.”
Voqras waved that off. “With all due respect, Your Grace, you should know better than to believe everything the League of Realm says.”
Lord Boggond’s commlet pinged.
It was Ultek, demanding—again—to be involved in Ghaw’s “elimination.”
“I hope Captain Voqras will find a better solution,” Lord Boggond said, hesitant to go into the details in front of Yemella.
“Even so, I want to be a part of it,” Ultek said.
Lord Boggond knit his brows. “You’ve been on edge lately, Zorom. Something wrong?”
“You tell me, Your Grace.” Ultek sounded defiant. “Ever since you hired Voqras, I feel like I’m being sidelined.”
“Nonsense.”
“We had a deal, remember? I make sure you get endorsed and you give me the army.”
“I haven’t forgotten.” How could he? The man reminded him almost daily. “Why do you want it so much? It’s not like you don’t have enough power as it is.”
“Are you backpedaling on me?” Ultek raised his voice. “It’s the army that I want. It’s what I’ve always wanted, and you know it.”
Lord Boggond said nothing.
He didn’t like Ultek’s tone, and he itched to remind him of his place. But he wasn’t alone. Not to mention that he was exhausted after the public talk.
“Your Grace,” Ultek said, “think twice before you drop your longtime loyal ally for someone you don’t really know. And don’t underestimate the damage your loyal ally could do if he’s betrayed.”
“Are you threatening me?” That was rich, Ultek talking of loyalty and betrayal.
“Of course, not.” There was a brief pause. “Actually, yes. I am.”
“You’ll have what you want,” Lord Boggond said placatingly. “Just be patient.”
He muttered “over” and hung up.
They rode in silence until they dropped Yemella off.
As they continued to the Governor’s Palace, Lord Boggond turned to Voqras. “Was Heidd in the Frontier Zone the whole time?”
“You don’t trust him, Your Grace?”
“I do. But… what with his ties to Areg Sebi, and the way he looks out for Nyssa… I just want to be sure where his loyalties lie.”
“According to the tracker I placed on his vehicle, the commander didn’t return to the Central District until after we stormed Fort Crog,” Voqras said.
“Good.” Not.
Lord Boggond needed leverage to get Heidd to resign on his own. It was the only way to avoid questions and unrest in the military.
“Isn’t Chief Ultek more of a problem than Commander Heidd?” Voqras asked. “He’s turning policemen into brutes. People hate him, and by extension, the entire police force.”
Lord Boggond angled his body toward the window.
Voqras spoke again. “If he gets the army, because I know that’s what he wants, you can kiss it goodbye. Your officers are paid peanuts. Less than a private in Teteum. Your soldiers march in boots with holes in them. The only thing that holds Eia’s army—and its defenses—together is Heidd.”
Surely, Voqras was exaggerating. It was the soldier in him talking. And his ambition to take Ultek’s place as Lord Boggond’s number two.
“Then there’s his little hobby of abducting young women,” Voqras plowed on. “It’s becoming troublesome, isn’t it?”
“I need him,” Lord Boggond snapped.
“You don’t.”
Lord Boggond spun toward him. “Who do you think you are, Voqras?
“Forgive my outburst, Your Grace. But from what I’ve learned about Ultek so far, I bet he’s told you he has enough dirt on you to take you down if he went down.”
That was exactly what Ultek had said.
“Is it related to the Sebi case?” Voqras asked. “To his father’s accident? To Nollan Dreggo’s disappearance? Or does it go back all the way to Governor Iorasu’s sudden heart attack?”
The fucker was perceptive.
Voqras tut-tutted. “Chief Ultek has you by the balls, Your Grace.”
“You’re forgetting yourself, cyborg.”
“I’m sorry.” He bowed his head. “I’m just trying to convey that I can help you get rid of him if you wish. He underestimates my abilities. We can use that. We should be able to—”
“There is no ‘we,’ Captain,” Lord Boggond said dryly.
The cyborg’s face tightened.
“Even if—hypothetically—your theory was correct,” Lord Boggond continued, “I don’t mind it. I can live with my balls in the clammy hand of a moron who depends on me and whom I can manipulate.”
Voqras’s shoulders fell on a defeated sigh.
Lord Boggond arched an eyebrow. “Why should I transfer them into the iron grip of Horbell’s winged demon?”
6
A bug whined overhead, disrupting the quiet of the moment.
Jancel pressed his head to his left shoulder and took in the tall trees around him, their crowns flirting with the clouds in the sky. Shifting his hand to his nape, he held his head down, chin against breastbone, and admired the flickering shadows of foliage on the ground. Stretching to the right, he breathed in the scent of pine, wildflowers, and moss. Releasing his neck, he focused on the feel of the grass under his bare feet.
The headache was there, still as bad as an hour ago when he parked his vehicle at home and headed to the clearing. But Jancel willed himself to ignore it so he could concentrate on the fight.
“Ready?” Iyatt asked.
“Ready.”
Without further ado, Iyatt lunged at Jancel to unbalance him. Jancel dodged and countered the attack, aiming for Iyatt’s solar plexus. A right jab hit him so fast he had no time to sidestep it. Iyatt’s fist felt like steel against Jancel’s body. Jancel tucked his chin, guarding his head, and rolled forward. He straightened up and he kicked Iyatt, who stumbled back.
“Not bad but chamber your leg next time to give it more power,” Iyatt said.
Right. He knew that. Iyatt had explained and demonstrated the kick several times already, but Jancel still failed to do it right, the greenhorn that he was. The martial art of Rateh didn’t come easy to him. He’d much rather box or—even better—throw knives.
But he was determined to learn.
Taking a step toward Iyatt, Jancel spun with his leg outstretched low and tripped his opponent. Iyatt fell but lunged into Jancel, causing both of them to tumble to the ground in a messy heap.
Iyatt quickly rose and motioned to Jancel to get up. The instant Jancel was on his feet, Iyatt kicked him in the stomach and twisted his arm down, forcing him down. Jancel threw his leg up and whipped Iyatt’s face.
“Good,” Iyatt said.
He loosened his grip, allowing Jancel to escape from the hold. Jancel rose and kicked again but Iyatt gripped his leg midair and spun him. Jancel lost his balance. Grappling him, Iyatt pinned him to the ground, face down.
“Enough for today.” Iyatt let go of him.
They bowed, put their shoes on, and drained their water flasks.
Tonight’s practice had been shorter than usual. In less than two hours, Iyatt had to be back at the police station in Iltaqa. He was on night patrol this week, a duty he often volunteered for.
“You were distracted today,” Iyatt said. “Something wr
ong? I mean, besides Ultek shifting up a gear to grab the army and Nyssa Sebi from you.”
Jancel shook his head. “Just the headache. You?”
They’d updated each other before practice, as usual, but Jancel had a feeling there was something else on Iyatt’s mind. Something his friend was hesitant to share.
“There’s a rumor,” Iyatt said. “But it’s too crazy to be true.”
“Tell me anyway.”
“Last night I went out for a drink with some other cops, including an officer named Qur. He was recently admitted into Ultek’s inner circle, so I’m trying to befriend him, even if I suspect he’s as rotten as his boss.”
“It would take a lot of rot to be like Ultek!”
“True. So, Qur had too much to drink. When the conversation veered toward women, he said Ultek has a basement full of them. Then he realized he’d said too much and changed the topic.”
Jancel stared at his friend.
“Do you think it’s true?” Iyatt asked. “I hope it was just Qur’s sick, alcohol-boosted imagination.”
Jancel hesitated still.
Iyatt shook his head. “Ultek is corrupt, all right, and a lecher, but keeping women locked away in his basement?”
“It’s true.”
“What?” Iyatt searched his face. “Have you seen it?”
“No.”
“Could he… could he be the girl snatcher?”
“I think he is.”
“Really?”
Jancel nodded. “I believe Achlins Ghaw’s independent inquiry will arrive at the same conclusion. That is, if Ultek doesn’t eliminate him first.”
“We should do something.”
Another nod. “I tried my best to get Boggond to order Ultek to stop, but he doesn’t give a shit. Besides, even if Ultek quits kidnapping, he’ll never let the ones he’s holding go. Except feet first.”
“Do you think Boggond is involved? Could Ultek be taking the women for him?”
“I honestly doubt it.” Jancel rubbed his temples. “But he looks the other way.”
“I’ll keep my eyes open.”
“Be careful.”