Directorate School (The Directorate Book 1)

by Pam Uphoff

  A horrible thud.

  He shoved, got a single glimpse of a kneeling body collapsing, blood . . . He was grabbed and shoved.

  Heard a scream from Ra'd, turned to see him falling, hitting the ground completely limp.

  A spell smacked his shields and Ebsa dropped to his hands and knees. Saw the crowd turning away. He crawled to Ra'd. Breathing. Stunned.

  We're too late.

  We're all going to die.

  Ebsa grabbed Ra'd's shoulders and dragged him back through the arch. The Ecclesiastical guards that Ra'd had influenced staggered out of his way, but closed up behind and trailed then, looked more clear headed by the second.

  Paer, Heak and Azko galloped up.

  "Grab Ra'd, we have to leave, right now."

  Paer and Azko grabbed a shoulder apiece. Heak grabbed his feet and they stumbled up the aisle to the main doorway. Out on the street, people were collecting, coming from all directions. Priests, a few more guards, some very old priests, glowing.

  Ebsa kept between the thickest concentration of the armed guards, the powerful priests and Ra'd.

  One old man snorted and stepped out, eyeing Ra'd. Then he gazed at Ebsa, with deep deep eyes that drew him in. "Pity you don't have a priest's gene. You come close to being the Philosopher for the Rule of Law." He snorted derisively.

  Ebsa heard scrambling behind him.

  "We're going, Ebsa." Paer sounded breathless. Ra'd was a rather large young man, even with three of them to share the load.

  Ebsa backed away, fighting the pull of those eyes. "Law? How about justice? There doesn't seem to be much interest in it around here. Blindly following the Rule of Law is not always the best path. Gleefully tripping down it is going to have horrible repercussions for the Empire, and perhaps especially for the One. Do you think that Wolfson won't specifically target you?" Backing, backing. He didn't dare turn his head to look. Didn't dare break the One's focus on himself.

  "We know about them now. We know how few magicians they have, how few are actually trained. The fools didn't take over and rule their world, they barely reproduced at all. How can they be a threat to us?"

  Ebsa tried to swallow, his throat dry. Kept backing up. "They can open gates wherever they wish. They can attack us at will, then disappear. They can attack our gates. Any damage will render them inoperable. They do genetic engineering. We have limited means to fight biological warfare. We have few enough people trained in battle magic. No Warriors of the One."

  "Bah. We should have kept those two, bent them to the will of all the people. But we don't need warriors. We are the One."

  Running feet behind him. "We're all on the train, come!" Paer's voice.

  He turned and ran. No one shot him. He stayed on Paer's heels and threw himself through the door Azko was holding open. The train pulled out of the station. Picked up speed.

  There weren't any other passengers, but Ra'd had obviously just been dumped in the aisle before Paer had returned to fetch him.

  They picked him up now, starting to twitch, and shifted him into a seat in an empty section. Swapped the bench ahead to face rearward. Same across the aisle.

  They all flopped down on the seats.

  Ra'd was blinking, fighting his way out of that mental slap.

  Ebsa looked at his shaking hands, his friends. "Close your shields as tightly as you can. Don't think at all. Not until we're out of the range of their influence."

  "They didn't listen to us." Paer's voice was a whisper, tears running down her face. "They didn't care. They found an excuse to foment a war."

  Ebsa leaned back in his seat. All for nothing. We're walking away with our lives, having shattered our future. And worse, we failed.

  The train picked up speed . . . the mental pressure of the One faded.

  "I've heard that it used to reach out much further, before Endi changed everyone's ideas about the other worlds, about our subsuming everything." Paer wiped her cheeks. "I think the One is desperate to re-form, to become as powerful as it once was."

  Ra'd shoved himself upright. "And Nighthawk was available, a perfect way to make Comet Fall the aggressor, get everyone back into the right philosophy. I am going to . . . speak . . . to some of the actors in this tragic play they think they are managing. They will never do this again. They will not remain in power."

  "Ra'd . . . don't get yourself killed . . . "

  Chapter Nineteen

  26 Shawwal 1402 yp

  The train swayed around a slow curve, straightened and sped up.

  They had all been silent for a long time.

  Finally Ra'd pushed himself erect. "We need to investigate, and make sure this travesty of justice is exposed. Make sure it isn't just covered up and forgotten, or worse, taken as proof of the untrustworthy and violent nature of the Fallen. We need to prove that Nighthawk didn't kill him."

  Ebsa eyed the other man. Shields up solidly, but beneath the firm exterior Ebsa could feel Ra'd's icy control. There was something very hot, very hurt, and very dangerous quivering around the edges of his hard held mental shield.

  When he breaks, it is going to be ugly.

  "Quickly." Paer bit her lip. "Before this mess falls off the cliff into a war. Once the shooting starts it'll be too late for truth and justice to mean anything."

  Three of them nodded. Determined looks, straightened backs and braced shoulders. Ra'd slowly joined them. "I will not fight against Nighthawk's father."

  Ebsa swallowed. Oh you fools! I don't know who or what Ra'd is . . . but you have made such a horrible mistake.

  Ra'd frowned down at himself. Started buttoning up his shirt.

  When did he take his shirt off? I must have dozed off. Relief from stress? Ebsa blinked back tears. Only temporary . . . but when did . . . He checked the time. Only lost an hour. "Ra'd, when did you take your shirt off?"

  "What?" Ra'd frowned from buttons to Ebsa. "I must have . . . "

  "But do you actually remember unbuttoning your shirt?"

  His shook his head, paused, frown deepening. "I dreamed about Nighthawk, dreamed . . . What do you remember?"

  "Collapsing in the seat . . . and waking up in the same seat, an hour later, with everything in the right place except your shirt."

  Paer swallowed. "Sleep spell or did someone erase a memory?"

  "That's illegal." Azko's grip on the seat tightened. "And it'll mess up our security ratings forever."

  Heak's eyes widened. "Well, don't tell anyone . . . oh."

  Paer was pale. "Yeah. Oh. Did someone just erase memory, or did they put something in? Are we security risks?"

  Ra'd shrugged, brows drawing together. "Or you just fell asleep and I did something odd while recovering from a mental slam. First we are going to expose this brutal murder. Then we will return to Makkah and find out what, if anything, they have done to us."

  Ebsa looked at Paer. "You're going to be in trouble with your father, aren't you? I mean, oh crap. You are going to be in physical contact with him."

  Paer hunched her shoulders. "Getting a serious dressing down. But what if . . . "

  Azko sat up in alarm. "Do they want to kill the president."

  Ebsa swallowed. "I think you need a change of clothes and a shower, in case of contact poison . . . " He looked at Ra'd's shirt . . . "We all do. As soon as we get to Dimashq. Then we'll go on. I don't think we can avoid a meeting with the President, but with all of us aware of the possibilities, I . . . surely we can stop you . . . "

  No one met them at the Dimashq train station. They took a taxi to the city center. Shopped on Paer's account, rented a hotel room and took turns scrubbing . . . Cutting fingernails back to the quick . . . Surely that's paranoid . . . then took a taxi to the airport, old clothing stuffed in a new suitcase. Keep everything. Get it analyzed later.

  "I'm not going to think about it anymore." Paer crossed her arms. "I'm going to contemplate the rest of the trouble I'm in. Dad's going to ream me. And I left the car running at the curb of the airport. It won't b
e there. Of course. No doubt some guards will. Although it may have been stolen, then there's no telling where it's gone . . . Oh man, am I ever in trouble."

  "Yeah. Taking the car, your driving . . . " Ebsa's stomach clenched. "Oh. One. I hit one of your guards."

  Paer and Ra'd both nodded.

  Ra'd didn't look worried. "That's nothing compared to what Urfa will do to them, letting this . . . " His fists clenched and he looked angrily out the airplane window. Shields up even harder.

  They debarked in Paris and walked out toward the taxis . . . Movement from all directions. Running footsteps.

  Paer looked alarmed, then slumped. "Relax, guys. I know them. It's the good guys . . . well, arguably."

  A car pulled up. Large. Black.

  Two more guards got out, both women. They stared down at Paer, who raised her chin. The rest of them were ignored. But when Heak looked wistfully for a way out, one of the more distant guards stepped out and blocked her gaze.

  :: Guess we all get dressed down. Like it or not. ::

  A chorus of mental flashes. It was unanimous, all votes cast for "not."

  The guards said absolutely the minimum. They returned the silence

  More guards fell in around them as they left the airport. With more vehicles. None of which bore the telltale splashes of wheel splattered concrete that probably marked their old abandoned armored car.

  They were driven across town and marched in a side door of Government House.

  The president of twelve worlds stalked in and grabbed his daughter. "What the One bloody hell is going on? A simple security situation is no reason for a wild escapade . . . "

  No sudden impulse to kill him, or even scratch him with poisoned fingernails.

  "Simple! A foreign student is railroaded with a patently false murder accusation . . . "

  Verbal assault, on the other hand . . .

  "Yes, I've sent people to look into that."

  "Oh, well. That's nice." Paer swallowed. "I'm surprised you're so calm, on the eve of war with Comet Fall."

  "Honey, one girl who doesn't understand . . . "

  Paer took a deep breath through bared teeth, and Ebsa stepped forward to put a hand on her arm.

  "Sir. Are you aware that Nighthawk Swishdaut was executed six hours ago?"

  Instant silence.

  "With less than a single day's investigation, Nighthawk was arrested, and arraigned. I have been unable to locate any priests who witnessed either her truthed questioning or the questioning of the two principal witnesses. Her lawyer says she repudiated what the Chief of Police said she experienced. She was found guilty in a closed trial, and appealed to the One. She was taken there immediately. We followed as quickly as we could, and requested they hold further judgment until the Chief of Police of New York District could come and testify himself about the truthing, and also requested that the two principal witnesses be summoned to testify, and that Nighthawk's medication wear off so she could mentally show them what happened." Ebsa took a steadying breath. "They refused all that, took her from the court and murdered her."

  Heak swiped at her cheek. But her voice was steady. "She is the granddaughter of the God of Travelers on her mother's side. Her father is Xen Wolfson, and thus she is the granddaughter of the God of War and the great great granddaughter of General Rufi Negue, the Co-ruler of the Kingdom of the West. It would be tough to find four more powerful men on Comet Fall that you could enrage by murdering a single teenage girl."

  Even the background murmur had died.

  Urfa broke the silence. "The man was killed eight days ago. How the One Hell . . . "

  Ra'd snorted. "They blocked all communications. We didn't realize they could move so fast, else we'd have found some way to get here, to warn you."

  Paer growled. "I tried. I ordered Jawr to take a car and go tell Urfa, told her to call the Comet Fall Embassy and tell them. She said her job was to guard me. So I said, fine, I'd ride along. They locked me in my room. Which. Is. What. Necessitated. That. Wild. Escapade." Her voice dropped to forced sweetness. "And the One was not interested in actual testimony, having found an excellent excuse for war. So while you're preparing for that war, I think I'll just pop back to New York and get back to my classes, because you're going to be needing all the trained agents you can lay your hands on, probably before I manage to graduate."

  "Paer . . . I didn't realize . . . I thought we'd have all of Ramadan to sort this out."

  "Oh, and replace all my guards. This time with people who put the good of the Empire first. Someone who will follow orders. From. Me. Now if you'll excuse us, perhaps I should go call a taxi and fly back to New York."

  "No. I think you should stay here."

  "Where's Rael? You could send her . . . "

  "I sent her to find Xen."

  Another snort from Ra'd. "We could not contact Disco in Gate City. I suspect Rael is having trouble with her clearance."

  Urfa was tapping on his comm.

  "Not any more." Ebsa said. "Now they'll want Wolfson informed, way too late to do anything. What do you want to bet he has an accident on the way to New York?"

  "The call is going through, but he's not answering." Urfa tapped another number. "Inso, where's Xen . . . " he listened for a long moment. "I see."

  He looked over at the President. "Xen resigned from Disco three hours ago. He refused to speak to Rael who arrived as he left. Rumor is he also resigned his commission with the Army of the West."

  "So. Is he going to New York or Makkah?" The President rubbed his face. "Get me four new guards for Paer. Their orders are to consider the Empire first, Paer second, and they are to obey her orders." He dropped his gaze to Paer. "I'm sending you back so Xen will have some actual information to base his actions on. Not whatever the newspapers are printing. When you speak to him, be clear what you witnessed and what you have speculated or found out subsequently. Be careful what you say. He's capable of killing anyone he decides to. Ordinarily I'd say he wouldn't, but today? I don't know."

  Paer nodded, looking a bit frightened.

  The famous, or infamous, Xen Wolfson. Yeah, we've all seen the vids of the assassination. There is no one who can stop him. Ebsa glanced at Ra'd. And some will help.

  Urfa had stepped to the side and was talking to four women. With gestures and pointing of his forefinger in Paer's direction.

  Two of them trotted off.

  Urfa walked back and stared down at Paer. "Be careful kid. You're playing in the big leagues now." He looked over the rest of them. "Don't fight Xen unless he's trying to kill Paer. Do argue against him killing anyone else, or at least anyone you think bears no blame for this. And if you have to kill anyone, well, the types of people who you're up against are more likely to send in innocent policemen with a tall tale than do the dirty work themselves. Try not to kill any pawns. And live conspirators are always more useful than dead ones. Don't worry too much about damaging them."

  "Holy . . . " Azko breathed behind him.

  "You're in training. But you are now acting as directorate agents a bit earlier than you'd planned. Use your heads. Trust your hearts."

  The President nodded his agreement.

  Urfa scratched his chin. "Paer, I'm going to send Izzo into this mess. Give him all the information you have, even the embarrassing or criminal sort. No, at this time I don't want to know how you spoofed the IDs and made yourself disappear. I'll worry about that later. Hug your dad, your car is ready."

  Chapter Twenty

  3 Ramadan 1402 yp

  The first day of Ramadan. It was traditional for everyone to stuff themselves before dawn. Lunch wouldn't happen, and dinner wouldn't be served until after sunset.

  Ebsa looked at the almost random selections on his plate feeling bilious.

  He sat down beside Paer. She was slumped. Red-eyed, stress lines on her face.

  "Eat it anyway." Ra'd sat down on his other side, and started eating like a machine. No doodle pad in sight. "After class we need some sort of bat
tle plan. It won't last, but we need to figure out how we're going break this conspiracy."

  Paer eye Ra'd uncertainly. "What are you going to do?"

  "I am not going to berserk, so stop looking so nervy. First I will clear Nighthawk's name, then if the justice system can't find enough honor to deal with the problem . . . I will. But it will be a careful, controlled and very thorough . . . cleanup."

  An apprehensive silence.

  Ebsa chewed. Swallowed. "Let's start at the York News. Talk to the reporters. I'll bet they interviewed a bunch of people."

  Paer straightened. "They may have had a reporter in the court. We can see who testified, what they said, and compare it to what we know."

  There was a test in history. Ebsa threw caution to the wind and ripped into it. Ranted for three pages in the essay portion. If I'm going to be expelled, might as well go in style. The notes he took in O Chem were . . . probably not going to be coherent later.

  Latin . . . something odd happened in Latin. The professor was wide open . . . no he had constructed an open area in his mind. A corner he wanted everyone to see.

  Ebsa looked. A tangle of . . . Latin. He knew Latin. He jerked back in shock, but his deep understanding of the language was still there. He got a nod of approval from the professor.

  :: Study it, and it will sink in solidly, and stay with you. ::

  Ebsa dropped his eyes to the text on his computer. Jumped ahead . . . read a page. Jumped further. He knew it all. Gestalt learning. Can I do it in everything? He eyed the teacher. Everything. With a teacher who makes it available.

  They gathered outside before Martial Arts.

  Ebsa looked them over, relieved to see all of them. "No one ever goes in there alone. Nor anywhere alone with any of them, right?"

  Ra'd showed his teeth.

  "In your case, Ra'd, it's so you don't wind up accused of murdering someone." Or actually doing it. Ebsa led the way in. Most of the Action trainees were in a clump and talking in loud voices, suddenly quieting at their entry. A dozen dirty looks were aimed their direction.