Freedom, Humanity, and Other Delusions (Death's Handmaiden Book 3) Page 3

  ‘Big ones.’ Crawling up the bed, Mitsuko closed the distance like a hunting cat stalking prey.

  ‘Mm.’

  ‘Really big ones.’

  Nava shook her head as Mitsuko’s lips closed on hers. ‘They’ll be positively atomic.’

  236/1/14.

  Barring unforeseen circumstances, classes at SAS2 kept the same homeroom teacher for the first four years. Hence, Luca Newton Kinnari registered class 22C, just as she had done with class 12C. This maintained a sense of continuity for the students until they moved on to the advanced courses in the fifth year. The same could not be said for the combat instructor assigned to the class.

  ‘Good morning, class two-two-C,’ the new instructor said as she paced in front of her seated students. They were sitting on the floor in one of the combat instruction rooms and the new face had been a little surprising to many. ‘I am Captain Sienna Acker Fosse. I will be teaching you for the next three years, so get used to calling me Captain Sienna Acker. For those of you who happen to be interested in my credentials, I served ten years in the ASF’s marines.’

  Nava considered that statement. Ten years and she had made captain. Nava’s second lieutenant rank was informal, but it was only two ranks below captain. Sienna Acker had either been uninterested in advancement – unlikely, given that she stressed her rank so much – or she had annoyed the hell out of her superiors. Or she had done something sufficiently bad that it had stunted her advancement. Nava hoped the latter was not the case.

  The woman was built like a tank. A supermodel tank, but still a tank. There had been little appreciative whimpers from most of the male students when she had walked into the room and Nava could understand the point. Sienna Acker was a very attractive woman. However, it was her musculature which Nava picked up on. Her arm muscles were well defined, but her thighs… She looked like she did five hundred squat thrusts every morning without fail. She could probably crush a man’s skull between those thighs. He might even die happy. She was shorter than Mitsuko by maybe three centimetres: tall, but not aggressively so. If she was ex-military, then she had taken to civilian life since her hair was long and straight. Chestnut waves fell from a centre parting to the upper slopes of moderate-to-large breasts. Her nose was a little flat, but her lips were very full, and she had a sharp, firm jawline and high cheekbones. Nava suspected that her leadership style had been ‘ballbuster.’

  ‘You will be learning combat tactics,’ Sienna went on, ‘because even support specialists may be called on to lead other soldiers. You will be taught the best use of support magic in combat situations. You will continue to improve your marksmanship. This will assist you in correctly targeting support spells. It is not simply because we instructors like making you do the drills.’ That sounded like a sore point from previous years. ‘Now there is just one thing I want to know at this point, and that is: what are you wearing, Nava Greyling?’

  ‘The new combat training uniform, Captain Sienna Acker,’ Nava replied.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Familiarisation. Familiarising oneself with one’s equipment is important. I confirmed with the administration that, if I had one of the new suits, I could wear it. I’d like to get fully up to speed on all its functions as soon as possible and I’ve only had time to achieve a basic familiarity.’

  ‘And how is it that you have one when the first batch through have only been made available to combat students?’

  ‘I’m a Greyling.’

  ‘Huh.’ Sienna favoured Nava with a frown. ‘Since we have an example and you’ll all be getting the new suits next term, let’s take a moment to go over what you’re getting. Nava Greyling, would you come to the front and regale us with the specifications of the Mercury MagiSystems Personal Defence System suits?’

  It was probably meant to be an exercise in humiliation. Nava would step up to the front and give a poor presentation on the new equipment. Sienna would call her out. Hilarity would ensue. Nava’s class knew better, and they all settled down to listen as Nava got to her feet and walked out to stand beside the teacher.

  The PDS-101 was quite a change from the suits the rest of the class were wearing. The design had been created exclusively for the use of magicians and, compared to the standard armour worn by ASF personnel, it was quite impressive. The suit itself was a form-fitting garment with panels of denser materials mounted on a highly flexible base material. The SAS2 version had blue panels mounted over a grey base and the SAS2 logo printed over the left breast. Normally anyway. In addition to the suit, the helmet could be sealed to the suit to provide resistance to biochemical weapons. There was no faceplate, so with the helmet on you were presented with something which looked like a highly realistic, humanoid robot. A pair of light bands marked the location of the optical sensor system and gave the ‘robot’ something of a menacing appearance.

  ‘Okay,’ Nava said, ‘this is the PDS one-oh-one. It comes in two basic variants, M for military and C for civilian. We will actually be getting the S variant, but the only difference between the C and S versions is that the S has the option of displaying this school colour scheme. Mercury MagiSystems got the contract to supply the ASF by agreeing to make the S version available to the school at a significant discount.’

  ‘It was, however, all finalised at rather short notice,’ Sienna said, ‘which is why we’re getting our first supply in two batches.’

  ‘The existing suits are quite satisfactory for our purposes,’ Nava said. ‘The ASF made the arrangement so that students from the school would be basically familiar with them should they continue on to join the ASF. The suit itself is magically active. It utilises a magician’s natural ability to accumulate quintessence, filtering some of that energy off to repair itself. This will only happen while you’re wearing it, but it’s very useful. The material is resistant to heat and electricity. It will provide protection against energy weapons, Laser Strike, and Fire Blast. It also has a reactive capability making it effective against most firearms. It’s flexible, so it’s not as effective against large impacts and falls, but it is still better than the older suits. Just not much better. Both the military and civilian models have a chameleon surface, providing camouflage when viewed under visible and infrared spectrums. The military version is effective against a broader range of frequencies and has a radar-stealth coating. The camouflage is less effective when moving. You have been warned. Both variants have spell matrices for Might and Armour, enhancing your strength and providing far greater protection, but at the cost of periodically recasting the spells.’

  ‘The ranks of those spells?’ Sienna asked.

  ‘For the civilian version, Might is rank three, Armour is rank ten. The military version has ranks five and twenty.’ Nava lifted the helmet. ‘I won’t put this on because you sound like you’re talking into a bucket. The helmet seals to the suit and has air filtration. It’s equipped with a radio and a protected-hearing system. You see via a screen mounted over your eyes and the field of view is not restricted. The civilian version provides infrared optics. The military version gives you ultraviolet too. The internal power cell can operate for a day and, in addition, there are slots for C-size Q-cells. Two slots in the civilian version, four in the military. You can use the stored quintessence for whatever you wish, including running the spell matrices in the suit, obviously. I think that covers everything. Oh, all versions have integrated MagiTag detection for training purposes. Now that’s everything.’

  ‘Yes,’ Sienna said. If she was annoyed that Nava had covered everything, she was not showing it. ‘Your opinion of the new suit?’

  ‘With limited time to use it, I find it comfortable and effective. I’ve yet to be shot while wearing it, however. I reserve judgement on its protective capabilities.’

  ‘I don’t think anyone has been shot while wearing one, to date. Okay, you might as well stay on your feet as we’ll be doing some breaching exercises. I want to see for myself what you’re all capable of. Nava Greyling, since you have
that suit, your team can defend.’ Sienna frowned as a groan went up from the majority of the class.

  ‘They were probably hoping you wouldn’t say that,’ Nava said. ‘Our previous instructor usually had my team take the defensive role.’

  ‘Oh, really? This I can’t wait to see.’

  Melissa and Rochester moved over to stand beside Nava as she checked her MagiTag pistols. ‘Your suit is military spec, isn’t it?’ Melissa asked in a low voice.

  ‘It certainly is,’ Nava replied. ‘My family had the school colour scheme added as a special feature. I don’t think we’ll mention that to Captain Sienna Acker. Somehow, I don’t think she’d take it too well.’

  ~~~

  ‘Theory this afternoon,’ Melissa said. ‘You’re not taking it, Hoshi? That’s right, isn’t it?’

  Hoshi had joined the others for lunch. She was wearing casual clothes and looking rather happy about it. ‘They got a proper replacement. One of the postgrads finished his studies and decided he wanted to teach. I’m not absolutely positive that you’ll be getting him, but it’s likely.’

  Part of her pleasure with no longer having to teach was likely due to not having to teach Rochester. Their relationship was not physical, but there was still a dubious element to it given that Hoshi was his metaphysics teacher. Her regression back to being just a postgrad gave them more legitimacy.

  Rochester appeared to feel the same. There was no hint of disappointment at not having his girlfriend teaching him anyway. ‘Do you know the man?’ he asked.

  ‘By sight,’ Hoshi replied. ‘I mean, half the faculty, by which I mean the female half, knows him by sight. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to him. He’s been doing pure research for three years. He’s an excellent theoretician, from what I hear. Not so good with practical magic, hence he went into academic research.’

  Something in the pit of Nava’s stomach twisted. Butterflies fluttered. Nava was not used to fits of nerves; she had not suffered from the problem since she was seven. A new metaphysics teacher, even one described as very attractive, should not be causing her to feel uneasy, but…

  ‘You haven’t mentioned his name?’ Mitsuko pointed out.

  ‘Oh! Sorry, it’s Miles Paris Sonkei,’ Hoshi supplied.

  Nava recalled the schema for the See Spirits spell and activated it. The nervous feeling was already gone, but she looked around anyway. Maybe the feeling had been the result of a Harbinger being nearby. Maybe that sensation was not directly the result of a nearby Harbinger, but the one Nava had killed had triggered it for some other reason. Maybe… Too many maybes and not enough visual evidence of a big blue alien which happened to be invisible to everyone else in the refectory.

  ‘Are you okay, Nava?’ Hoshi asked. ‘You look… No idea what you look like, but not normal.’

  ‘It’s nothing,’ Nava said. If there was a Harbinger nearby, it had escaped her sight. She was not confident enough in that particular weird sense to say anything. It would only scare people. ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘Oh. Okay.’

  ‘Melissa,’ Mitsuko said, ‘you know Miles Paris’s cousins.’

  ‘I do?’

  ‘Yes. You remember Alain and Phillipe? Their father is Miles’s uncle on their mother’s side.’

  Melissa blushed. ‘Oh. Yes. I remember them. S-small world, isn’t it?’

  ‘Where did you meet them?’ Rochester asked. His eyes were a little narrowed.

  ‘We met at a party. It was the one welcoming Nava into the clan. That was the one, right, Suki?’

  ‘That was it. Nice boys. Well, they’re adults now, of course. Still doing everything together. I believe they’re both going into acting.’

  ‘Well,’ Melissa said, ‘they’re both handsome men. If their cousin is the same, the girls will be whimpering this afternoon just like the boys were when Captain Sienna Acker walked in this morning.’

  ‘I did not whimper,’ Rochester said, looking a little huffy.

  ‘Of course not, Chess,’ Mitsuko said. ‘You’re not into muscles.’

  Melissa and Hoshi nodded in unison. ‘Boobs,’ they chorused.

  236/1/15.

  ‘So, we meet at last!’

  The usual lunchtime group turned at the sound of the voice, and what they saw was a girl in SAS2 uniform who none of them had ever met before. At least that made her statement accurate. Sort of. She was standing there in a dramatic sort of pose, one arm raised with her index finger pointed at Nava. She was not really much to look at; she was not ugly, but she was not especially pretty either. She was thin, maybe a little bony, and she had moderately small, high breasts. Her neck was fairly long and it was shown off by a somewhat unusual hairstyle, for the time anyway. Long black hair had been drawn up into a pair of plaits which ran over the top of her head to the back, ending in short tails held in place by tortoiseshell rings. A pair of slim bangs fell to either side of her face, dyed purple at the ends. The twin tails were also purple and there were a couple of bands of the same colour wound through her plaits. She liked her makeup thick and Gothic: quite full lips were painted a paler shade of purple and iridescent blue eyeshadow decorated the upper lids of eyes which had purple irises. Her nose really let her down, being a bit big for her face, quite pointed, and yet managing to be just a bit bulbous at the tip. Overall, her face followed her rather gaunt figure, but she did somehow manage to look something like a stereotypical sorceress or witch.

  ‘Excuse me?’ Nava asked.

  Apparently, the mystery girl was not entirely happy with what she had said, or maybe how she had said it. ‘No, that sounds like a villain meeting a hero…’ she muttered. Without really answering Nava, she turned away, paused, and then turned back, once again dramatically posing with a finger aimed at Nava. Her dress swirled around her legs as she did so, adding to the impression that she was acting in a schlocky action drama. ‘Through time and space I have searched for you. Truly, our meeting is fated by destiny!’

  Nava turned to Mitsuko. ‘The Drama Club only does one production a year, right? This isn’t another one trying to get me into a play?’

  ‘Yes and no,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘Might we ask you to introduce yourself, young lady?’

  There was a bit of a falter in the girl’s rather pleased, kind of triumphant expression; this was not quite going to plan. ‘My name is Carina Schwartz Malkin! Daughter of Ottmar and Ariana. I have searched these long years for a guardian to–’

  ‘Maybe this is some sort of hazing ritual for new Drama Club members,’ Nava suggested.

  Carina’s confident expression crumpled and her shoulders sagged. ‘No. I’m not with the–’

  ‘Where did you hear about hazing of all things?’ Mitsuko asked. ‘That kind of thing is strictly forbidden under school regulations.’

  ‘One of those animated series Mel likes,’ Nava replied. Her attention was still fixed on Carina. ‘Do you think you could tell us what you want without all the theatrics?’

  ‘I was rather enjoying the theatrics,’ Melissa said.

  ‘It livened up lunch,’ Hoshi agreed.

  Looking sulky and disappointed, Carina walked over to sit down on the seat beside Nava. She glanced around quickly before taking her seat. It looked a lot like she did not want to be seen doing so, but then why make the ridiculous entrance? ‘I really am looking for someone to help me and… a friend told me that I should find the girl with the white hair and grey eyes because she’s really powerful.’

  ‘You don’t know my name?’ Nava asked.

  ‘Well, uh, no. I know that’s Mitsuko Trenton Sonkei, the student president, because she gave a speech on the first day. I don’t know who the rest of you are.’

  ‘You were just told to come find me by this friend of yours?’

  ‘Trudy. Yes. The white-haired girl with the grey eyes and the amazing aura.’

  ‘It gets better,’ Mitsuko commented. ‘Now you have an aura.’

  Nava ignored that part for now. ‘My name is Nava Greyling Sonkei.�
� Nava paused to let the name sink in and perhaps be recognised.

  ‘Pleased to meet you,’ Carina replied. ‘Destiny compels us–’

  ‘I think we’ve heard enough about destiny,’ Mitsuko said. ‘You said you were a Malkin?’

  ‘I am,’ Carina said, lifting her chin proudly.

  ‘I didn’t think the Malkin clan ever sent anyone to be a student here. Really, it’s a year for oddities.’

  ‘I’m not familiar with the Malkins,’ Nava said.

  ‘I’m not especially surprised. Grimalkin is one of the furthest worlds in the Alliance from Shinden.’

  ‘Just over two hundred light years,’ Carina supplied.

  ‘Thank you. The Malkins have one of the highest percentages of magicians among their ranks. They’re often quite powerful, but they generally educate their people on their world. Why did they send you here, Carina?’

  Carina looked away. ‘They suggested that a change of scenery would be good for me.’

  ‘You mentioned a guardian,’ Nava said. ‘Why do you need a guardian?’

  There was more looking around. Nava followed Carina’s gaze, but there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary in the refectory. Unless you counted Carina. ‘I can’t talk about it here. They might hear. I’ve said too much already.’

  ‘I see. Well, I’m a little too busy to play bodyguard right now. Especially to someone who won’t tell me why.’

  ‘But–’

  ‘Perhaps you could come back when you’ve decided to trust the guardian you’re destined to meet.’

  ‘I…’ It looked briefly as though the girl was going to cry. She got to her feet. ‘I’ll talk to Trudy and see what she thinks. Maybe she was wrong.’ Then she was stalking away before anyone could reply.

  ‘Strange girl,’ Rochester said.

  Courtney watched Carina’s back for a second. ‘I’ll check her records and see whether there’s likely to be a problem there. After that business with Marie’s stalker…’

  ‘I don’t think Carina is that kind of person,’ Nava said, ‘but I would be interested to hear anything you can tell us about her.’