The Great Game

by O. J. Lowe

  “I’m not entirely sure what sort of arrangement you think we could come to. I can’t share Unisco resources with… Well technically you’re a rogue organisation. We don’t know anything about you, I certainly didn’t know your group existed until the battle. I knew about you, Ruud, but… Well… That there are so many of you is a different matter. It’s a shame as I’d love to have you by our side when it comes down to it.”

  “And you know it will come down to it,” Ruud said. “This isn’t going to be finished in a few weeks. It’s going to be a long horrible bloody struggle. Claudia Coppinger means business. She’s out for blood. You need all the help you can get. It’s hard to come by these days, I hear. Not with what the Vazaran Suns did.”

  “Our organisation never bore a close partnership with them though. Too many questionable acts committed in their name. I bore a professional relationship with Mazoud, I had a respect for what he’s done in his life, but that aside, we never associated.”

  “My point is, she has allies. Powerful allies. And while my Vedo might not be on a par with that army, I think you’ll find we can be of use to you in other ways. Infiltration. Espionage. Your training programs are presumably exceptional by now; they were pretty good when I went through them. My people are fast learners, I made sure of that. And besides, you’re forgetting about the potential exchange of skills.”

  “Exchange of skills?” Arnholt asked. Wade found himself feeling more and more like a spare part. Also, he had a nasty feeling gestating in the pit of his stomach that he couldn’t quite ignore, a horrible sensation that wanted to be heard.

  “Well the required degree of sensitivity to the Kjarn needed to train as a full Vedo is present in more people than you might imagine, it just needs coaxing out,” Ruud said. “Given permission to test Unisco agents, I might find several suitable candidates. I train them up, you have some on retainer then. Granted it’s not a path I’d like them to take but at the same time, this isn’t an ideal situation for anyone. It’s happened before. You took Anne Sullivan on, she’s potentially one of the strongest Kjarn users I’ve ever encountered in recent years.”

  “And you did it,” Wade pointed out. “Combined the two.”

  “Hence why I’d rather not put anyone else through it,” Ruud said. “I speak from experience, just as I do when I say people will do what they feel the need to do. Can’t change that.”

  “So, you become a part of Unisco for the duration of this conflict,” Arnholt said. “You agree to render aid wherever it is needed…”

  “No, I want to become an informal part,” Ruud said. “Outside the regular command structure. I’ll answer to you; I’ll sign off on any missions you want to send my people on, if I feel that it is the right fit for them. These Vedo are a precious resource and I won’t have you squander them on suicide missions. In exchange, we’ll hunt down Wim Carson for you. Any resources, including people and equipment will provide for us will be greatly appreciated. Any assistance we can give you, we can.”

  “No,” Arnholt said simply. Wade smirked at that. As much as he liked Baxter, there were too many horrible suspicions floating about his mind right now to just blindly accept anything he said as fact. “Not a chance.”

  “No?” Baxter asked politely. He hadn’t even raised an eyebrow, Wade noticed. He always remembered playing Ruin with him. It was hard to forget. The lesson of the memory always remained thus, never gamble against someone who can read your emotions and at the same time give nothing away.

  “You’re asking for a lot.”

  “And think what you’re getting in exchange,” Ruud said pointedly. “This isn’t the past. Back then, the Vedo were wasteful. They had all this power, they chose to sit on it. You saw what we could do. How much worse would it have been had we not been there in that stadium?”

  “Still not explained why you had them all there,” Wade muttered. At first, he’d thought they were here on the island to share their respects with Sharon Arventino. Seeing them all tooled up and ready for a fight in the stadium, he’d been developing suspicions of his own. If Ruud heard him, he chose not to reply. He couldn’t have failed to miss the way Wade felt inside though.

  “At the very worst-case scenario, you would have been looking at a catastrophe instead of a disaster. You wouldn’t be here yourself if not for the intervention of Agent Wallerington’s cousin. She saved your life, I believe. In the past, that power was sat on. I’m bringing it out into the light. The times have changed and we needed to change with them. Sometimes I think that’s why the original order fell. But we are few and we lack resources to grow further. I’ve been financing them myself but I’m nearly out of credits. This alliance is mutually beneficial to both of us, you have to see that.”

  Arnholt, credit to him, Wade thought, avoided meeting Ruud’s eyes. “You wouldn’t be trying to put me under your influence, would you?” It came out lightly but at the same time there was little hiding the accusation in his voice.

  “I wouldn’t,” Ruud said. “You can make this deal or you can send me away. I want that to be your choice. Besides, that trick only works on those who don’t know what they want. I think it’s fair to say you are anything but. Terrence, believe me on this. I have only best interests at heart. I’ve spent these last years building the Vedo back up to anything even slightly resembling what came before. If I want control, it’s only because I don’t want to see that work fizzle out. It’s not even anything against you…” He swallowed. “Believe me, I trust you. But you’ve just been shot. There was absolutely no reason to shoot you unless someone knew you were the director of Unisco. I trust you. I know you. You’ve earned that recognition. I have very little reason to trust whoever comes in after you. I’m covering myself. Better the enemy you know, for want of a better term.”

  “I’m flattered,” Arnholt said. “But I still have to say no. If you and your people wish to join Unisco then you do it through the proper channels. Take the training and…”

  “Then we have nothing further to discuss,” Ruud said simply, cutting him off. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time. Maybe I’ll go directly to the Senate instead. See if they’ll give us the resources…”

  “You won’t,” Arnholt said. “You’d have done that first, if it was a viable option. You’re leery about your people coming under Unisco control. You’d hate it even more if they were under the bureaucratic thumb…” He paused for a moment. “And don’t even try to deny that.”

  Ruud said nothing, just stood stiffly with his arms at his sides.

  “Here’s my counter offer. You and your people come into the Unisco fold and you’ll be given any sort of resource you need, including any agents you want. I won’t give you autonomy. I will give you a commanding role though under someone of my choice. You will be assigned missions and I expect you to fulfil them.”

  “Who’s the commanding officer going to be?” Ruud asked.

  “I have a few people in mind for the role. It’s a new department I’m going to have to see created as soon as is possible.”

  “Don’t forget as well, we have a library full of old books that might be able to help with this,” Ruud offered. “This whole delusion of godhood mess that we seem to have found ourselves in with Coppinger.”

  “Do you really think she’s become a god?” Wade asked. He couldn’t help himself. “I mean it’s a pretty bold statement to make.”

  “There was something not entirely right about her,” Ruud said. “Even from a distance, I could sense her. It’s like hearing warning bells chiming. You’re aware of it but sometimes you’re not sure why until it’s too late. I don’t know.” He rubbed his forehead. “But I do accept your deal by the way. I think it’s in all our best interests if I do. We can’t beat them apart. They’ve been preparing for this, the battle in the skies, the attack on the stadium… Together we might be able to do this.”

  “Then welcome back, Agent Baxter.”

  As they shook hands, Wade still couldn’t shake that fe
eling rattling around in his head. He somehow couldn’t entirely rid himself of the horrible thought that Baxter had known this whole mess at the stadium was going to happen. At the same time, he’d done nothing beforehand to pre-emptively deal with it other than ensure his own people were in a great position to look good during the aftermath.

  It’s a horrible feeling to hold that suspicion about one of your closest friends, to wonder if they’re capable of doing that. Being complicit in something so horrible. It’s even worse when you know in your heart that it’s true.

  After all, Baxter had been trained by two worlds. The Vedo and Unisco. One had nearly died, the other was in a fight for its life. That he’d picked up some survival skills on the way and the savvy to use them, Wade shouldn’t have been surprised. It didn’t mean it didn’t hurt any less though.

  Betrayal always stung the most when it came from someone you trusted.

  “I’m not going to be sad to leave here,” Mia said. She sounded like she meant it as well, a grin determination in her voice. At least her mood had picked up since she’d gotten the call that her dad had woken up in the hospital. They’d been to see him earlier. “Really. It’s been nothing but bad luck for me.”

  Scott raised an eyebrow. “Nothing but?”

  With a roll of her eyes she leaned up and kissed him. “Present company excluded. I’ve nearly died three times here. And my dad got shot as well! Can you blame me? Never coming back after this. I don’t believe in pushing fate any further than I have to.”

  “Look at it this way,” Scott said with a smile. “You could have died three times and you didn’t. Does this make you officially a survivor?”

  “We all survived this thing,” she said. “You, me, Pete, Sam. When it all kicked off in that stadium… I was worried about you. You were right at ground zero. She could have killed you.”

  “She didn’t though,” Scott said. “Still here. Crazy bitch. Let’s get as far away from her as possible next.” He took in Mia’s quizzical expression. “You know, assuming you want to come with me. I mean…”

  “Love to,” she said. “But where?”

  “Well I’d love to show you my home city…”

  “Premesoir?”

  “Delhoig in Premesoir. The iron city. Or so they call it anyway. I’ve never seen much attraction in calling it that. There’s not much iron there anymore. Used to be a ton of steel works there now it all comes from Vazara cheap.” He scuffed his boot against the railings in disgust. “I remember growing up. It stank. I mean it, could smell it no matter where you were in the city. You… You’ve never smelled anything like it, believe me.”

  She squeezed his hand playfully. “And this is where you want to take me?”

  “I’ve been away from home for too long,” Scott said, looking out across towards the sun. This was the best part of the island, a small peak just beyond the resort although not far enough into the unchartered parts of the island. Someone had made it into an observatory, a few long-range telescopes placed around the perimeter. They were alone but for each other. That didn’t include Permear, the ghost hovering over by one of the scopes, muttering angrily to himself. He’d not been the same since being knocked out in the fight. Scott assumed he’d get over it sooner or later.

  “It doesn’t have to be Delhoig,” Scott said. “I’d follow you to the ends of the five kingdoms if need be. From here to Canterage.” He winced, something coming back to him that felt so long ago. Like he’d been a different man back then. “Just… Not Burykia, okay? I did it recently. Wouldn’t feel right going back there right now.” Not with a different girlfriend. Two months didn’t sound like it should have been a long time. Having lived through it, he realised it felt like an eternity.

  “Serran?” she said. “There’s some places I go there this time of the year. And it’s beautiful. You ever been before?” Scott nodded his head.

  “Not recently,” he said. “Not for a long time. Think we lived there briefly when I was a kid before going to Premesoir.” It wasn’t as uncommon as it sounded. Plenty of people spent their lives never having set foot in all five of the kingdoms. He’d never been to Vazara before all this. “It would be nice to see it again. Home first. Then…”

  “Or we could go Serran first, since it’s on the way. Travel across, head back to Premesoir on the other side.”

  She wasn’t making it easy, he had to admit. Still he didn’t care. Either way worked. Delhoig would still be there when he did get back. And he wasn’t in a hurry. It wouldn’t change drastically. “Sure, whatever works,” he grinned. “You’re the boss.”

  Her grin matched his at that comment. “That works for me,” she said. “I like that, flyboy. Mia ‘The Boss’ Arnholt. Better than my middle name.”

  That piqued his interest. “What is your middle name?”

  “Caroline. It was my mother’s name.”

  “Oh… Nothing wrong with that.” He didn’t have much else to say to that. Couldn’t think of anything. Didn’t think it needed it. There was no benefit to further comment. And Mia Caroline Arnholt was a cute name, he thought.

  “Not as good as ‘The Boss’ though, is it? Might adopt that for the dance stage. Try it out in Serran, I think. Maybe it’ll take off.”

  “You could have your own merchandise,” Scott laughed. “Your own brand. Isn’t that like the dream for you people?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You people?! What a tactlessly insensitive way to make your point.” At least she gave him a grin while saying it. “But yeah, you’re not wrong. There’s some strange people in this game.”

  “Yours and mine,” Scott said thoughtfully. “Hey, Mia.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I seriously want to know. What really happened? Why does Harvey Rocastle hate you so much anyway?”

  Mia let out a nervous laugh. “What, hatred to the point that he’s tried to kidnap me twice and threatened me with death more than I can count? You’ll laugh at this. Really you will.”

  “I’m pretty sure I won’t. How come you never did anything about it before?”

  “Well it was all just threats, he’s always been petty and spiteful. And… And well, he thinks I stole some of his moves.”

  “What?!” He genuinely couldn’t help laughing, just as she’d said. “You’re kidding!”

  “Nope.”

  “But… That’s…” Amusement turned to disbelief.

  “Yep.”

  “How petty can you get? Seriously?!”

  “Apparently murderously so,” Mia said wearily. “Shame really. Used to be friends. He’d had a hard life, there was always something cold in him. Never thought it’d end like this.”

  “Where were you?”

  Anne smiled weakly, it felt a strange emotion, alien to her lips right now. Every twitch of the muscles in her mouth felt like an eternity of discomfort. Maybe that was the way it should be. Her body ached, she was tired and she just wanted to go to bed. Even above Ruud Baxter’s offer, she didn’t want to think about the future. Being around so much sorrow today, it had just been draining. It had been even worse in a way than the horrors of the battle. She still bore the mental scars of that, she could hear the screams and smell the fire when she closed her eyes. She still bore Baxter’s weapon on her belt. More than once in her room, she’d taken it out in front of the mirror and activated it, just to study the hissing blade, just to see how it looked in her hands.

  “Funeral,” she said. “Friends died, you know.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  The strange thing was, he meant it as well. He’d always thought genuine apology was something beyond him. For that matter, he’d never been convinced he could do a convincing fake one. Apology wasn’t something that ever really entered his psyche until recently.

  “Yes well,” she said. “Life goes on. Can’t complain about stuff unfortunately. Being mad at life’s like being mad at the Divines. It’s not going to get you anywhere.”

  “Steady, I thought I was supposed to
be the cynical one.”

  She managed a weak smile. “There’s a margin of difference between cynicism and realism. Not a gulf but a glimpse.”

  “So, what will you do now then?” Theo asked. “Go back home, or…?” He let it hang, a curious brow raised.

  “Can’t say,” she said. “I’ve been given a new… Yeah, I don’t know.”

  “You’re with Unisco, aren’t you?” he said slowly. For a moment, she looked like she wanted to lie about it and then decided not to, nodding her head once gently.

  “For a while,” she said. “What gave it away?”

  “The running around shooting people,” Theo replied. “Was a pretty cool sight. You looked like a complete badass.”

  She shuddered. “Not a good thing to say, Theo. People died there. It was a bad day.”

  “The sentiment is true, even if the words are wrong,” Theo grunted, going red a little at the reprimand. “I could have put it better. What I was trying to say is, you’re amazing. A hero.”

  “I don’t feel like a hero,” she said, looking down at her feet. “You know what my new assignment is going to be? They’re supposedly setting up a new department in the next few months, they want me to be a part of it. Don’t know where I’ll be based or how long it’ll be for.” She sighed sadly. “Shame because it does seem like a fantastic opportunity.”

  He swallowed deeply. “You should do it.”

  “Not like I have a choice,” she said. “But I’m glad I have your approval,” That last part came out a little sarcastically, he felt his cheeks flush again.

  “Not what I meant,” he said. “Anne, these days I’ve spent with you, they’ve been… Believe me, I’ve never used this word often before, they were fun. I learned a load from you. I wouldn’t have gotten where I did without you.” He reached out, took her hand. His stomach was leaping, he tried to ignore it. Wouldn’t do to get the jitters. “I owe you so much. I’m not ever sure I can entirely repay you.”