The professor arrived then, and Ana was busy taking notes for the next two hours. The actual information for the class was imprinted into her brain via an induction headset, but that only provided the data. It still had to be accessed and understood to be useful. The professor explained what she had learned, added little asides that hadn't been in the program, and answered questions to clarify the data. Ana found the class interesting. It was a general studies class designed as a refresher for incoming students that covered the history of human expansion into space, the rise and fall of the Old Empire, the formation of the Earth Federation, and the colonization and founding of the Sentient Concord.
She was mildly amused when they had learned about the early attempts at space travel. The professor hadn't mentioned Ana's people at all. When she'd asked about that, the professor hadn't even heard of the Taelantae. They'd had a long talk about the Thyrna-Shae and the Taelantae then, and he'd suggested to her that she should pursue a degree in history so that she could tell the story of her people.
Ana got that a lot.
It seemed like every time she took a class, the professor of whatever subject tried to recruit her to join that department. She just wanted to get her general classes out of the way before she decided on a major course of study, but it was gratifying to have them believe in her. For someone who'd had almost no education before coming to Dawn – it had been illegal for her to learn to read back on Cedeforthy – she felt as if she was doing very well. She was receiving high marks in her classes. She was actually beginning to believe that she really was as smart as her friends kept telling her she was.
Jeroen surprised her by speaking to her again after class.
"Ana, may I walk you home?"
"Sure, thank you," Ana replied. She studied him as he walked beside her, but he didn't seem to have any dishonorable intentions. Therefore, he must want to acquire her help with something. Jeroen always wanted something. "What's bothering you?"
"Hmm? Nothing. I just wanted to see a familiar face."
Ana smiled. She knew he considered her ugly; she was too thin and pale for him to find attractive. It didn't bother her. She didn't want him to find her attractive. She didn't want anyone to, except Hrothgar. Something was bothering Jeroen, though; she could sense it without even trying.
"Have you ever thought of going home?" Jeroen asked her.
"Excuse me?" He'd surprised her. "I am home."
"I mean, have you thought of going back to Cedeforthy?"
"Why would I?" she asked. She'd been nothing there -- less than nothing.
He looked embarrassed. "The Concord has given me access to a courier ship any time I want to go back home. I was thinking of going for a few weeks after the summer session. I just thought that you might want to go, too. That's all."
Ana stopped walking. "Jeroen, I don't know what you are doing, but I'm sure that I don't like it. I'm a married woman, and you don't even find me attractive. I'm not amused."
"It's nothing like that," Jeroen said. "You're the wife of a friend. I may be bad, but I'm not that bad. I'd never do anything that would compromise that friendship, and you'd just slap me anyway. No, it's complicated."
"Then make it uncomplicated," Ana said. "Try just speaking your mind."
"That's hard for me to do. I'm too used to the play of speech at court."
"We're not at court."
"Look, it's like this," said Jeroen. "I'm the heir, you know that."
"I'm not one of your subjects."
"I didn't… Damn it, I'm not as good at this as I should be. Look, if the unification is going to work on Cedeforthy, it needs to be for everyone. Surely you understand that. My uncle was trying to give more rights to your people before all of this happened. He'd helped you with that house, and your freedom."
"Just because I owe something to your uncle, doesn't mean that I owe you anything."
"Not me," he said. "Your people."
"What do you mean?"
"I want you come with me as an honored guest, to show both of our peoples that we can live alongside each other without hate. Your people need a symbol to prove to them that all of this is real. You could be that proof."
"I don't know," Ana said. "I'd need to think about it. This isn't something I've ever considered before." She starting walking again. What he was asking her to do was outrageous, and yet she wanted it. She wanted to be able to help her people, the Taelantae. She also very much wanted to see her sister again. She'd been shunned before, as a former slave. If she went back now as a guest of the emperor, she would be accepted.
"Think about it," Jeroen said, walking alongside her.
"I will."
They walked in silence back to her house. She hoped Amber was home; she really wanted to talk about what Jeroen had asked her to do. She needed help with a decision like that. She wished Hrothgar were here. He'd have told her to go without hesitation, for the honor.
Chapter Thirty-Two
"Who the hell cares what they really look like?" sneered Kendall. He'd come back down the steps while they talked. "All I need to know is where to shoot."
"As if it were so easy," Tonya replied.
He glared at her. "Nice pussycat. What's it going to do, shed on the enemy?"
Easy, Ghost, Tonya thought. Now isn't the time.
"Watch your tone, Kendall," Deegan warned.
"It's Corporal to you pukes."
Tonya laughed. "A corporal in what service? Militia?"
"I'm a Colonial Marine!"
"Yeah, well, I'm a real marine, and I'm not impressed."
He balled up his fists in rage, but Tonya knew he wouldn't try anything. She'd already proved she was faster and stronger than he was, and there was Ghost to consider. Three hundred kilograms of bioengineered panther was no joke.
"You're all a bunch of cowards," Kendall spat through gritted teeth. "I know how to deal with aliens like her."
"Don't do anything brash, Corporal. You'll just get yourself killed again," said Raven.
"What would you know about it, freak? When was the last time you did anything for the success of this mission?"
"Kendall, I think you should leave," Deegan said. "Go take a walk and let the grown-ups talk, okay?"
"Go to hell!" He stormed off up the stairs. After a few minutes, the door slammed.
"Where did you find that guy?" Tonya asked into the uncomfortable silence.
Raven sighed and shook his head. "I didn't exactly have much choice about partners."
Considering how close Simone was sitting to him, he'd done all right for himself.
"Do you think we should follow him?" Simone asked. "Just to keep him out of trouble?"
"I think a guy like that likes to blow off steam," Tonya said. "I can't imagine he'd actually try anything. Besides, didn't you say Cassandra was in a different part of the city? He'd have to go through at least one checkpoint to get to her."
"That's what worries me," said Simone.
"Ghost would you mind?" Tonya said aloud for the benefit of the others.
Sure, can I kill him?
Be good. Tonya opened the door and let the neo-panther out.
"She's quite extraordinary," Deegan said. "I take it you have a telepathic bond?"
"Yes." Tonya didn't want to talk about it. She was looking through Ghost's eyes as she stalked Kendall. She couldn't bring herself to call him a corporal; rank had to be earned. "Oh, shit. Shit. Shit. Shit."
"What's wrong?" asked Deegan.
"Kendall just opened fire on a checkpoint with some kind of heavy machinegun."
"There goes the mission," Raven muttered.
"Can Ghost stop him?" Deegan said.
"Not with that gun he has," said Tonya. She drew the pistol she'd stolen earlier. "We're going to need to stop him ourselves."
"What should we do?" Simone asked. Raven looked like he wanted to come with them, but he couldn't -- not with a broken leg.
"You still have the Key?" Deegan asked his associ
ates.
Raven glanced at Tonya, but nodded.
"Then go back and report the mission a failure. You can't do anything else here."
Raven sighed and nodded again.
"I'll come back when I can," Deegan said. The if went unsaid between them.
"We need to go now," Tonya said, "if we're going to catch him before he gets himself killed and lets Cassandra know we're after her."
Ana took an aircar to the capitol, Jiangsu.
She was still a bit intimidated by the impossibly tall building and layers of loud air and ground traffic. Ana thought she was adapting rather well, considering where she was from. This was the first time she'd made a trip without someone she knew with her, and she felt like she was actually, finally, being treated like an adult by her friends. Amber and Pierre often acted as if she wouldn't be able to adjust to technology, since she hadn't grown up with it. It was silly and just a little bit insulting, but she knew that they were only trying to keep her safe.
The Office of Internal Security was located in the government plaza near the center of the city. There was a lot of foot traffic; many of the people were not human, or even humanoid. Ana had never seen a Homndruu before, but the huge, wine-colored aliens couldn't be anything else. She liked their faces and swirling eyes.
She hadn't been sure if she would be allowed to see Admiral Shadovsky, but his aide, Bruce, showed her directly into Mandor's office without hesitation. The admiral stood when she entered and smiled as he offered her a chair. His aide left after an offer of coffee, which she rejected. She couldn't understand how people could drink the vile stuff.
"What can I do for you, Ana?" Mandor asked her. He settled back down behind his desk and shut down his air screens.
She smiled hesitantly. "I'm sorry to bother you."
"Not at all," he said sincerely. "I could use a break."
"Jeroen, from Cedeforthy, asked me to return with him when he goes home. He's the heir, and wants me to represent my people during the unification,"she said in a rush
Mandor frowned. "I understand the importance of his request, and it would be good to have a Taelantae to put a friendly face on all this, but this isn't the best time for you to be away from Dawn."
"I'll be done with classes in two weeks," she argued. "I don't see why I couldn't go."
"I'm not saying that you can't go. I'm not your keeper. I'm just trying to give you the best advice I can."
Ana blushed. She hadn't meant it like that.
"Look," Mandor said. "I understand that it's important to you, or you wouldn't have come to me. Would you be willing to wait another couple of weeks?"
"What difference would that make?"
"You're important, Ana. I don't want anything to happen to you, and not just because of your husband. You're reasonably safe here on Dawn, but I can't guarantee your safety on Cedeforthy. There has been violent unrest and resistance to the Concord and to the reforms the emperor is trying to make. You'd be a target, and not just from the locals. There's still Theta activity on the planet."
She shivered. "I understand why you don't want me to go, but why suggest waiting?"
"For you to be safe, I'd like you to have a bodyguard, someone I can trust to protect you. I can't possibly get away right now, or I'd go myself."
"I appreciate that."
"There is someone I think would be perfect for the job, but she's on assignment right now. She should be back in a few weeks."
"She?"
"Lt. Commander Tonya Harris, Special Operations. She has a neo-panther companion, Ghost, and is a Theta survivor. She is one of the few people I know who has managed to kill one of the things, and she did it with her hands. She'd be able to keep you safe, and since they respect neo-panthers and the people they work with in Bellejor, she would be able to play the role of lawbringer on the planet, like Tebrey did."
"Do you think she would be willing?"
"Well, she works for me, so I could just assign her to you as a bodyguard. I think she would understand the importance of the mission and volunteer, though. She can be a bit abrasive, but she has a good heart."
"Abrasive?"
Mandor smiled. "She had a rough childhood. Grew up in a street gang. I think you'll get along quite well."
"What about her companion? Do you think Ghost would like me?"
"Ghost? I don't see why not. You get along with Hunter, don't you?"
"Of course! I know that neo-panthers don't usually talk with people that they aren't bonded to, that Hunter is unique. I just think it would be odd to be around one and not be able to talk to it."
"I didn't know you and Hunter could communicate. That's interesting. You'd have to work that out with Harris and Ghost, though. I wouldn't presume to make any assumptions."
"I understand," said Ana. "So you don't have any problems with me going? As long as I wait for Tonya and Ghost?"
"I don't see why you shouldn't, and it could be very beneficial. I'll let you know when she gets back from her mission."
"Thank you for seeing me like this," Ana said.
"Anytime, Ana."
Chapter Thirty-Three
Tonya Harris felt Kendall scream from a block away.
"We need to hurry," she yelled to Deegan. "Cassandra has started on him."
"I know." Deegan ran along with her through the maze of streets. "I felt that, too."
They had been trying to stop Kendall before he got to Cassandra, but they hadn't been able to catch him. Now he was going to die. If he had just waited for us!
"Whatever else," Tonya said through gritted teeth, "promise me that we'll take this bitch out." Her head was spinning with remembered pain. It was always like this when she was near a Theta. She remembered what the first one had done to her. She'd lied a little when she told Jennifer she'd been tortured for months. To be honest, she didn't know exactly how much subjective time had passed for her. She'd been trapped on a medical ship, wounded. It had tortured her to near death, and then the medical techs it had turned put her into a medical pod and patched her up to start is all over again. The Theta kept her in stasis when it was bored playing with her. This had happened over years of objective time; she'd lost her mind for a while. She didn't know how many times it had done that to her -- so many that she'd lost count. Ghost had been kept in stasis the whole time; she had been too much of a threat.
Now Tonya was running toward that same exact thing. Kendall was being tortured, not for information, but just for fun. Thetas tortured because they liked it. It would tear his soul apart before it was finished with him.
I'm with you now, Ghost thought to her. It won't happen again.
Beside her, Deegan slowed to a stop.
"What?" Tonya yelled. "The building is right there! Why are you stopping?" They were only a hundred meter or so from the front door. From there, she didn't have to make any effort to sense the waves of loathing the Theta generated. In fact, she'd been trying to block them out along with Kendall's pain.
"Something's wrong," Deegan said.
"Yeah, a guy you know is being tortured to death!" she shouted. "Come on!"
"No, listen!"
Tonya stopped and reached out with her mind, since she knew he wasn't taking about listening with her ears. Her stomach churned at the feelings, but there was something wrong. Kendall was laughing even as he died.
"What the fuck?"
She tapped into his implants with her datalink. There was a countdown, and an image of the weapon he'd brought that they hadn't known about.
"Oh, fuck me," Tonya exclaimed. "The motherfucker has a nuke!"
"What?" Deegan said in surprise. "He has a what?"
"He has a satchel nuke -- it has less than two minutes on the countdown!"
"Can we stop it?"
"What? Ask the Theta pretty-please while I try to disarm it?"
"Then what do we do?"
"Run?" Tonya suggested. She turned and ran back the way they had come, trying to get as much distance between h
erself and Kendall as she could.
"But what about these people?"
"They're already dead!"
She didn't know if was going to do any good to run. She simply couldn't run fast enough. She could do the math: even at her fastest speed, she would only be a kilometer and a half from ground zero after two minutes. She put everything she had into running and concentrating on not tripping. Her neural computer set up a countdown. She wished she had her armor; she could have used the medical suite to administer drugs to make her run faster. Of course, if she'd had her armor, she wouldn't have needed to run.
"How big is the bomb?" asked Deegan as he ran beside her.
"Big enough."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that we're not going to make it to minimum safe distance," Tonya shouted. "We've got less than a minute."
They ran for their lives away from the building Kendall had gone into. There was no way to stop what was coming, and no way to escape the effects of the blast. The satchel nuke he'd armed had a five-kiloton yield. That was small by modern military standards, but it was still enough to destroy a third of the city.
They couldn't even warn anyone.
People stopped and stared as they ran past. A few screamed. Ghost wasn't cloaking her form. The neo-panther scared people enough to make them run, too, but many ran toward the bomb. Ghost could run faster than Tonya, but didn't want to.
I'm sorry, Tonya thought to her companion. She stumbled to a stop. If she wasn't getting away, she'd rather be killed in the initial blast instead of the firestorm. The bomb would vaporized everything out to three kilometers; the firestorm would flatten everything out to twelve.
"Why are you stopping!" Deegan shouted.
"We've got thirty seconds," replied Tonya. "I'm not going to die running."
The Fallen Page 18