Shadow (Bridge & Sword: Awakenings #4): Bridge & Sword World

by JC Andrijeski

  He didn’t look angry at her; in fact, that amusement spread to his brown eyes. Smiling a little in return, she downed the last of her drink.

  “Can I have another of these?” Chandre said casually, lifting her rocks glass.

  “On the house,” the man affirmed, plucking it from her fingers. Leaning closer, he muttered in a lower voice, winking at her. “You have no idea how often I’ve wished I could do something like that to these little pricks.”

  Smiling back at him, Chandre, gave him a finger salute.

  “Much appreciated, cousin.”

  “Don’t mention it.” He set the vodka and tonic on the bar in front of her, but not before Chandre noticed he’d poured her the good stuff.

  It was a much-needed reminder that some of these worms were worth saving.

  It was what the Bridge came here to do––save as many as she could before the Displacement took them all.

  At the thought, Chandre gestured in respect to her, long-distance, before taking a long drink of the vodka and tonic.

  “…Esteemed Bridge,” she muttered under her breath.

  You might want to be careful where you make that sign these days, sister, a voice said in her mind. Or you might end up with a knife at your own throat one of these nights.

  Chandre turned cautiously on the barstool, in time to meet a hard look above a fatuous smile aimed at a human male. The seer held onto the human’s arm, and he chatted away above her, oblivious to the seer’s communication with Chandre. She wore a backless, sequined gown, and he a tux, so they had likely come from a formal dinner, or perhaps were on their way out, to the opera or some other event. Her razor-thin collar barely showed at the base of her neck.

  It must be a light one, indeed, if she could speak through it.

  Then again, it might only be for show. A lot of humans liked their seers uncollared, despite the regulations.

  Chandre let her shoulders relax, taking her hand off the gun inside her jacket.

  The woman meant it as a warning only––and an expression of anger.

  Truthfully, she was right.

  Half the females in this room could be cloaked seers. Chandre guessed it to be more like a third. Unlike in Asia, where the exact opposite would be true, the vast majority of seers one encountered in the United States were female.

  The split in Asia usually ran about 90/10, with males in the firm majority.

  Here it would be almost exactly the reverse.

  In Europe, things tended to split a bit more evenly, but still leaning heavily towards females. Perhaps more like 70/30, or even 60/40, depending on the country.

  Japan was more like the United States.

  South America varied from country to country, seemingly with no noticeable pattern. Africa, like Asia, was predominantly male. Australia was more like Europe.

  Chandre had never really figured out the discrepancies, but it made sense to her that Dehgoies would have chosen to live in London, rather than the New World, despite the added sexual potential of a predominantly female population, given his preferences.

  One needed balance, after all––a semblance of balance, at least.

  Even Chandre felt this over-abundance of female seers. This was in spite of her own personal preference towards the company of females more generally.

  Looking away from the seer in the sequined dress, Chandre found her thoughts drifting back to the Bridge. Remembering how she’d left her back in Delhi, she frowned.

  The Bridge, or simply “Allie,” as Chandre couldn’t help thinking of her still, might not be thinking of her all that fondly these days.

  Shoving the thought from her mind, she frowned, taking another drink of the vodka. She had more pressing things to focus on tonight. She was working, after all; she hadn’t been lying entirely to that human pup.

  Moreover, she still hadn’t made much headway in her current assignment.

  Hey. A new voice rose softly in her mind. You’re not asleep, are you?

  Chandre swiveled on the leather bar stool. Seeing the seer standing there, she relaxed first, then frowned, checking an imaginary watch.

  “You are late, sister.”

  “I have good cause,” Talei said.

  She glanced at the male human sitting on the stool next to Chandre. Her eyes fell out of focus briefly, and the man stood up, a confused look on his face. Gripping his drink in one hand, he wandered away from the two of them, looking around as if lost.

  Talei took his vacated seat. Chandre snorted, in spite of herself.

  “That is not very polite, sister Talei.”

  “Was it polite that he was alternating between staring at your tits and ass when I walked up?” Talei retorted, her gold eyes motionless under her quirked eyebrow. “Or that he was thinking about trying to hire you for the night to suck his cock?”

  The bartender, hearing her, snorted a laugh.

  Both seers turned, staring at him. Looking between them, he blushed, holding up an apologetic hand. He started to wander off, but Talei waved for him to stop.

  “Can I have what she’s having?”

  He nodded, his ears still pink. “Vodka tonic? Sure.”

  He turned to make the drink and Chandre looked back at Talei. She watched the Asian seer’s gold eyes as she used the bar mirror to scan the crowd.

  Chandre couldn’t help but marvel at the woman’s smooth skin, a pale beige in color, at least four or five shades lighter than her own. She took in Talei’s sleek black hair, which fell nearly to her waist. Briefly, for the barest instant, Chandre saw the black tips of that hair dyed a bright red in her mind. She remembered caressing a scar on a different face, the woman who wore it smiling at her, her light brown eyes sad.

  Pain shivered in her light.

  She clicked out, right as the bartender returned with Talei’s drink, setting it on a white square napkin in front of her. Chandre watched the other seer take a few swallows, fighting to keep the reactions in her light invisible.

  She tried to push out the image of Cass and failed.

  Remembering her last conversation with the human, she frowned.

  Picking up her own glass, she replayed Talei’s words, if only to distract herself.

  “What is this cause you spoke of?” she grunted, after taking a drink of vodka.

  She averted her eyes from the seer’s questioning look, propping her elbows on the bar.

  “You said you had cause to be late,” she clarified. “What was it?” Scowling, Chandre motioned vaguely around at the room, her mouth a grim line. “When it comes to that, why are we meeting here at all? You pick a place filled with humans, where seers like this Draya bitch are likely to be whoring, or meeting one of their Washington friends. It will be clear we know each other. That you were acting in the locker room today.”

  Still frowning, she glanced at the mirror, copying Talei by scanning faces.

  “The community here,” she added. “It is not so large, Talai. They all talk. Share light. We should meet somewhere more private.”

  “What is your problem, sister?” Talei said. “I am not so late, am I?”

  Before Chandre could answer, the seer slid a hand into her lap, caressing the muscle of her inner thigh.

  Chandre bit her lip, fighting back the pain that rose in her light.

  “Ah.” Talei smiled. “I think I am understanding.”

  Chandre shoved off the hand. “Less than you think.”

  Talei rolled her eyes, but her voice shifted from coy to irritated. “No, I am getting it now. It is that human bitch again, isn’t it? The one who left you. The one I am increasingly beginning to think I am only here to replace. I have already seen in your mind that I look like her.”

  “You don’t look like her,” Chandre said, her voice warning.

  “Bullshit.” Talei took another long swallow of vodka, plunking the rocks glass on the bar napkin with more force than necessary. “Do you want to hear my news, or not?”

  Chandre frowned when she saw
humor twitching the other’s lips.

  “Depends on what it is.”

  Talei shook her head, smiling, clicking softly with her tongue. “Fine. Tell me to stop speaking when you have heard enough.”

  She switched seamlessly from English to Prexci.

  “There are a few things, sister Chandre,” she said, her tone businesslike. “First, I have a source for you. Related to that mess in Hong Kong. He is human. Part of British Intelligence. He claims it wasn’t gas in those canisters.”

  “Not gas?” Chandre frowned, looking over at the Asian seer. “What does that mean, not gas? What else could it be?”

  Talei shook her head, flipping her hair back. “Well, it was in gas form, and deployed as such obviously, but he says it wasn’t a gas weapon, per se. Rather, it was a concentrated dose of some new breed of synthetically-created disease. According to my contact, it’s totally new, something they’v never seen before. They think it was originally designed for administration via the water supply. He says someone modified it for dispersal via the canisters.”

  “So made specifically to be a biological weapon?”

  Talei rolled her eyes. “Obviously. And a damned deadly one. It appears this was some kind of demonstration. He didn’t know the precise motive, but his people think it was likely a message to someone.”

  Chandre stared at her. “A message? To who?”

  “Who do you think?” Talei clicked at her, lowering her glass to the bar. “You cannot think it a coincidence, that the Bridge was in that building? It could be a threat. It could be they are warning her.” Pausing again, she gestured fluidly. “It could also be they think she and her people might want to purchase this thing for themselves.”

  “They think the Bridge would want to buy a biological weapon that kills humans?" Chandre frowned at her in disbelief. “Why, in the gods, would she want that?”

  Talei didn’t answer, lifting her vodka tonic and taking a drink.

  “Who made it?” Chandre said. “One of the seer terrorist factions, or––”

  “Humans, they think,” Talei said, a faint quirk at her lips.

  “Humans?” Chandre stared. “Why would humans create something of this kind?”

  Talei shrugged, her voice practical. “Have they ever not done such things, sister? The rumor is, President Wellington ordered it from the bio-tech units before he died. They say it was supposed to be used on China, perhaps as a precursor to invading the Forbidden City. It is said Wellington was obsessed with controlling the seer trade.”

  Chandre’s frown deepened. But she found she understood.

  “He hoped to keep the seer population intact.” Clicking softly, she shook her head. “Idiots. The Lao Hu would destroy anyone who tried a stunt like that. Moreover, they are never all in the City at one time. They have outposts all over China.”

  “Perhaps.” Talei sounded less convinced. “I hear this op was well-funded. And it wasn’t only the United States involved––or even only humans. My contact says an international alliance exists, created to combat the Chinese. A group of seers and humans, cooperating to restore the balance of power within Asia, especially over seers.”

  Talei shrugged with her hand, a seer’s shrug.

  “According to their intel, this group feels there is too much risk involved, letting the Chinese own so many of the world’s seers. With the Seven’s apparent alliance with the Lao Hu, that risk became unacceptable. They want the Bridge to remain in the West.”

  Talei paused, letting Chandre absorb her words. She added,

  “Which brings me to the second thing, sister Chandre. Bounties. They’ve gotten high enough to hit the SCARB networks. High enough to make those that appeared in the wake of the destruction of that cruise ship seem like a porter’s tip.”

  Chandre looked at her, feeling muscles in her abdomen clench.

  “For the Bridge?”

  “Yes, the Bridge.” Talei grunted humorlessly. “They all want her alive, of course. In fact, anyone who kills her is likely to meet a horrible end themselves, from what I’ve heard. Seems there are a number of interested parties looking for her mate. Most of those who matter are reasonably sure he’s not dead. The predominant theory seems to be that she has him somewhere, and is mistreating him.”

  Talei paused, studying Chandre’s eyes.

  “My own bosses wonder if maybe the Bridge and Sword have orchestrated this whole thing. They think this is a trick, concocted with the Lao Hu… and a possible prelude to a major attack on Western soil. I am having trouble persuading them of the unlikelihood of such a scenario.”

  Chandre didn’t answer. Thinking, she stared into the darkness of the bar.

  “You are certain they are bonded?” Talei said.

  Chandre’s mouth firmed as she remembered. “They are bonded.”

  “In lifespan? She could not survive him?”

  Chandre gave her a flat look. “She could not survive him.”

  Talei looked between the other’s eyes for a moment, as if scanning for truth. Clicking again softly, she raised her glass to her lips.

  “That is bad, then,” she said, lowering her drink back to the bar. “The reports I read… these are not seers I would want after me.” She gave Chandre another look, that one sharper, showing more of her infiltrator rank. “Given the size of the bounties, I also wonder who is sponsoring this thing. My bosses no longer believe it is solely the Rebels. In this, I am inclined to agree with them.”

  Chandre’s gaze sharpened. “Do they have someone else in mind?”

  “Only rumors,” Talei assured her. “There is talk of an underground network of seers, deeply funded. It is said they are working with some among the human elite to bring the Bridge in alive. I have heard there is some thought to breed her… although likely their first goal is to control her, now that she is displaying as a telekinetic. In any case, it is talk only, as of now.”

  She made a smooth gesture with one hand.

  “But, I wonder. It sounds too similar, doesn’t it? A secret group of seers and humans making weapons against the Chinese. Now another secret group of humans and seers who want the Bridge? Both have enough funding to render them suspect.”

  Chandre frowned. “You think this is a coup that is happening?"

  “I think there is more going on here than is readily apparent,” Talei said. “The timing alone is suspect. Don’t you agree?”

  Chandre thought for a moment, staring into the bar’s back mirror. “Yes.” She looked at Talei. “Do you think this is really about the Chinese? About trying to destroy the power of the Lao Hu? Or is that merely the excuse?”

  Talei shrugged. “Either is plausible. I suspect it is both. Whoever owns the Bridge and the Sword owns the world, do they not?”

  Chandre once more stared into one of the darker corners of the bar.

  “Yes,” she said, feeling her jaw harden. She glanced back at the shorter seer. “Have any names come attached, with those bounties?”

  “On the Bridge?”

  “Yes,” Chandre said, impatient.

  “Many names were hidden from me. I saw only one. But his name checked out as being one from the inner circle of the Sword’s army.”

  “What is the name?” Chandre said.

  “Wreg,” Talei said, downing the last of her drink and motioning to the bartender for another. “No clan affiliation, although he’s got a formal designation in the original SCARB files. Some human name I can’t remember. No one uses anything but Wreg in any of the intelligence reports I’ve seen.”

  Noticing the look on Chandre’s face, she paused.

  “You know him?”

  Chandre’s mouth remained hard. “Yes,” she said. “I know him. I confess, I had hoped he might be one of those who died in that mess in the mountains. He has the single-mindedness of an angry dog. He also likely has Salinse with him, if that old bastard isn’t dead.”

  She shook her long braids, exhaling shortly.

  “If he is on Allie’s as
s, there is going to be trouble, Talei. That is true whether or not he is affiliated with your conspiracy group of rich humans and seers. Wreg is not one who will give up easily. If he thinks there is a chance the Sword is alive, he will fight to find him for as long as he breathes. He is loyal like a dog, too.”

  She paused, speaking to herself next.

  “…I wonder that Allie let him live. She must have seen this in him, too.”

  The Thai-looking seer smiled. “Perhaps she likes a good fight.”

  Frowning, Chandre took another swallow of her drink, her dark red eyes out of focus as she stared at the feeds playing overhead. The bartender had turned the sound all the way down on a picture of a rippling Chinese flag.

  “Bridge or no,” she said at last. “She will not be long for this world, with so many after her. If nothing else, she will end up in a cage herself.”

  Talei shrugged. Her eyes and light showed her agreement.

  “Perhaps it is good,” she said. “The Bridge only brings war, anyway.”

  Chandre frowned, feeling that pain in her light sharpen as she remembered the last time she’d seen the Bridge face to face.

  All she said was, “I think it is too late to stop that already.”

  10

  SOME DAYS I SUBMIT, SOME I WON’T

  I STOOD IN the doorway of Vash’s nearly furniture-less room.

  Meaning, apart from a bunch of round pillows and a low table, there was no furniture.

  He did have a few personal belongings, if you could call them that.

  Blankets. A bag of what might have been clothes. Books he’d brought from the Old House, one of the few structures remaining in the rubble that had been Seertown. An electronic monitor sat on the one table, along with a small altar. Several tapestries hung on the walls, but I figured Balidor had seen to that, or one of Vash’s younger students.

  In any case, I had my doubts how personal any of what I saw was, given that I’d seen Vash equally happy in a featureless rock cave.

  He wasn’t a “things” kind of guy.

  As I let my eyes roam over the symmetrical walls of his room, I had to fight back a wave of nausea. Feeling the old seer notice, I tried to smile.