Author: Benedict Jacka
Category: Science
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The boy stared at me from only a few feet away. I was taller than he was, but somehow it felt the other way around; there was a presence behind him, like a shadow looming over his shoulders. There was a strange detached look to his eyes, as though something else was looking through them. Black energy snapped at his fingers, but he didn’t attack. “You will serve.” His voice was normal, weirdly out of place in these surroundings. “Both of you—”
A narrow triangle of flame emerged from the boy’s chest. He stood still for a moment, then the light seemed to go out of his eyes, the black shield vanished, and he crumpled to the floor.
Variam looked down at the body, his sword still burning in one hand. “He getting up?”
I shook my head.
“Rest are dissipating,” Ilmarin called down from above.
I looked around to see that the battle was over. Little’s men had stopped firing and I could hear them calling out to one another, checking to see that the area was clear. “Verus to Little,” I said over the com. “That should be all of them, but sweep the area. Make sure we’re secure.”
“Understood.”
I took a last look down at the boy’s body and walked across the gantry and down the stairs to check on the wounded. I passed several of Little’s men as I did so, spreading out to search the corners of the room. Back at the entrance, two of the men were lying up against the wall, with Anne checking over them and with two others standing by looking outwards on alert. There was a lot of blood, but both of the men had their eyes open and were obviously alive.
“Nowy and Peterson, isn’t it?” I asked. “How are you holding up?”
“Could be worse, sir,” Peterson said.
“Skurwysyn,” Nowy said, and coughed. “I am good.”
“He’ll be fine,” Anne said reassuringly. She was kneeling next to Nowy, fingers laid on his throat. Despite the blood spattered all over it and across his clothes, the skin beneath was whole and smooth. She gave the security man a smile. “Don’t worry, Nowy, it hasn’t spoiled your good looks.”
Nowy tried to laugh, but he was obviously shaken. From the looks of it his artery had been opened; if Anne hadn’t been there, he would have been dead within a minute. Instead there wasn’t even a scar, and with a few days’ rest he’d be as good as new.
“Room’s clear,” Little said, walking back to me. “That should be the whole facility.”
I nodded, but Little didn’t leave. “Something else?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t mind knowing what those things were.”
“Now?”
“Intel briefing was to expect Dark mages, adepts, and armed security.” Little shifted his stance, feet shoulder width and hands behind his back. “Nothing about summoned monsters. With respect to Mage Walker”—he nodded to Anne—“we were pretty close to losing men on this. Would appreciate knowing how likely this is to happen again.”
I became aware that a lot of the security contingent were close by, hanging around the general area. Not all were looking at me, but they were clearly listening. Variam and Ilmarin were out of earshot in the corner of the room, looking through the notes on the table. It probably wasn’t a coincidence that Little was asking this now, and I’d also noticed that he wasn’t calling me sir. Council security tend not to get told much, and he was asking me to give him something.
“All right,” I said. “Be aware that some of this is going to be guesswork. Also, while none of it is technically classified, you might want to avoid repeating it around.”
There were several nods, including from Little. “That boy we just fought was possessed by a creature called a jinn. Otherwise known as genies. Wishes out of a lamp and stuff like that. The stories are true but they leave out a lot. For one thing, jinn didn’t used to be bound inside lamps. Mages did that. So like a lot of magical creatures, they’ve got good reason to dislike humans.”
“So where’s the lamp?” one of the security men said.
“Jinn don’t have to possess lamps. People work too, though the jinn normally have to be invited in first. Either way, if they’ve got a human to work through, they can use their powers. As for what they’re doing here . . .” I looked around, feeling Anne’s presence behind me. She was still tending to Nowy, but I knew she was listening very closely. “We’ve known for a while that Richard Drakh has taken a particular interest in jinn. They have an enormous amount of power, but there are two problems. First problem is that the power they can use is limited by the relationship they have with the human that’s directing them. Being bound into an item cuts down on that power a lot. Probably Drakh’s cabal were trying to access a jinn’s full power by binding it directly into a host. Unfortunately for them, it looks like in doing so they ran into the second problem, which is that jinn hate humans. If they’re granting wishes, they’ll try to make sure they turn out as badly for the wisher as possible. If they’re freed from their binding item and allowed to possess a human directly, they can cut out the middle-man. My best guess is that they tried to keep control of the jinn, failed, and after seeing how it turned out, they decided to cut their losses.”
“What about the bloody teleporters?” one of the other men asked.
“There were several orders of jinn,” I said. “The one possessing the boy was probably middle rank. The lesser ones were called jann. They weren’t bound into items in the way that the greater ones were—not powerful enough. Somehow the greater jinn seem to be able to call them up.”
“That balls-up at San Vittore last year,” another man said. “Were those the things that attacked the place?”
“Yes,” I said carefully. Now we were getting into really dangerous territory. “I haven’t run into any more since then.”
“Can we expect to run into more?” Little asked.
“That depends on whether Drakh’s cabal are still going ahead with their jinn project,” I said. “Maybe what happened here was enough to set them back. Otherwise . . .” I shrugged.
There were a few mutters, but no one asked any more questions. There was the sound of movement, and looking up, I saw Ilmarin and Variam walking over. Little turned to one side and started talking into his com, and the other security men began to drift away.
It was just as well that Little’s men had stopped asking questions. As I’d said, the attack on San Vittore last summer had been carried out by jinn—lots of weak ones and one very powerful one. What I hadn’t said was that the bearer of that very powerful jinn had been Anne. If anyone on the Council ever found that out, Anne and I would be sentenced to death in a heartbeat, and that possibility had hung over us both like a shadow for the past year.
“It was her,” Variam said as he reached me.
“Crystal?” I asked.
“Not in so many words,” Ilmarin said. “But several of the notes make reference to a ‘Dr. Marianne,’ an alias of hers. There are also references to ‘conditioning’ that sound very much like applications of mind magic.”
“So she’s promoted herself to doctor now,” I said. “Any clearer idea as to what happened here?”
“Not many specifics, but we can guess,” Ilmarin said. “There are mentions of a subject who I suspect is the boy we just fought. Given those holding cells at the back, he probably wasn’t here voluntarily. Presumably, Crystal was there to attempt to maintain control of him after they bonded him to a jinn. It seems they succeeded at the second part but not the first.”
“Doesn’t say what happened,” Variam said.
“Yeah, I imagine that by that point they weren’t really in a position to sit around and take notes,” I said. “But from the sound of it, Crystal’s long gone.”
Ilmarin nodded. “The last date I can find on the notes is eight days ago. If they haven’t returned since then, I suspect they’re not going to.”
Which meant that we were no closer to catching Crystal than before. Damn.
“Stakeout?” Variam asked. He didn’t sound hopeful.
“Crystal hasn’t stayed hidden from the Council for this long by being stupid,” I said. “We can place a remote sensor, but I’m not expecting much.”
Ilmarin stretched, looking around. “And so ends another raid, I suppose. At least we didn’t lose anyone.” He glanced around. “I wonder how many other facilities Drakh has hidden away.”
“Well, there’s one less now,” I said. I didn’t show it, but I was worried. This experiment of Richard’s had been a failure. What would happen if he succeeded?
* * *
It was an hour and a half later. The security men, along with my team of mages, had pulled back to a perimeter around the farmhouse. Although we were technically still on watch, the mood was more relaxed now, and several of the men were smoking. Our job was to guard the investigation team, but if anything was going to happen, I should be able to spot it well in advance.
“So how was the family visit?” Variam asked. The two of us were standing under a tree, a little way out of earshot. Up ahead, Ilmarin and Sergeant Little were in the farmyard supervising as the Council investigative team carried plastic boxes in through the front door. The contents of the facility would be packed into those boxes, then taken away and processed as evidence.
“It was . . . interesting,” I said. I glanced to the side, where Anne was talking with the two injured men, Peterson and Nowy. “I can see why Anne doesn’t go home often.”
Variam snorted. “If I was her, I wouldn’t either.”
“You met them back when you were in school together, didn’t you?” I said. “What did you think of that couple?”
“Father’s a wimp, mother’s a bitch,” Variam said. “She wouldn’t even let me in the house most of the time. Acted like I was going to steal her silverware.”
I laughed. “Apparently I get higher-class treatment. I just got snubbed over the dinner table.” I thought for a moment. “When Sagash kidnapped her, what happened? I mean, they must have noticed.”
“Oh, they noticed,” Variam said. “Biggest thing they were worried about was that it might hurt their daughter’s chances of getting into a good uni. Pissed me off so badly. Was actually what made me decide to find her myself.”
“And I used to think my parents were bad.” I looked across at Anne and wondered what it would be like growing up in a house like that. A couple of years ago Anne had told me that she liked the fact that when she was with me and Luna, she wasn’t expected to look after us. It had seemed a strange comment at the time. “That was when you ended up going to that dragon, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
Variam had called the creature he’d met the Fire Dragon, and it had given him a warning: if Variam wasn’t able to get Anne away from Sagash, she’d fall into darkness. To the best of my knowledge, I was the only other person Variam had ever told that to. Vari’s always kept an eye on Anne, ever since I’ve known them. Everyone else assumes that he’s trying to protect her; some assume he’s got a crush. I’ve come to realise that it’s for quite a different reason.
But Vari had been able to get Anne away from Sagash, and it had been years since we’d seen or heard anything from the Dark mage. “You think that prophecy’s done? I mean, Sagash hasn’t shown up for a long time.”
Variam was silent for a moment. “That jinn,” he said. “Before I killed it. What did it say?”
“Something about how we both would serve.”
“Mm,” Variam said. He turned and walked away.
Anne walked over just as Variam disappeared into the shadows. “Is Vari okay?”
“Not sure,” I said, looking after him. I couldn’t help noticing that Variam hadn’t answered my question. “I think he’s worried about something.”
“He does that a lot,” Anne said, and leant against me with a sigh. “I’m glad it’s over.”
I looked down at Anne with a smile and put my arm around her; she rested her head on my shoulder. “You did well back there.”
“I’m glad everyone’s safe,” Anne said. “One more day without a disaster.”
“There’s always tomorrow.”
chapter 3
It was tomorrow, and I was on trial for treason.
“As I said in my report at the initial inquiry,” Barrayar said, “Solace and I were in one of the interview rooms with Keeper Caldera when we first became aware of the attack. We left and were immediately engaged by what we are now aware were summoned lesser jinn. After they were dealt with, we conferred and realised that the attack was most likely an attempt to rescue Morden. Therefore, we headed directly for his cell.”
Barrayar is on the small side, well dressed, with a calm, polite manner that gives little away. Looking at him now, standing in front of the bench with his hands clasped behind his back, you wouldn’t guess how many deaths and attempted murders he’s responsible for. I’ve hated him for years. Maybe that was something people looking at me wouldn’t guess, either.
“No,” Barrayar said in response to a question from the bench. “We had separated from Mage Verus at the facility entrance and saw no trace of him until the events later.”
There were a moderate number of people in the courtroom. Full trials are open to all Light mages, but in this case attendance had been restricted. Off to one side were the other witnesses to be called: several of the surviving staff from San Vittore, along with Solace and Caldera. Solace shot me unfriendly glances when she thought I wasn’t looking. Caldera stood stone-faced and silent.
Sitting at the bench were the bench clerk, the records clerk, and the coroner. Officially the coroner was the one in charge, but sitting at the back of the room were two men and one woman, and though all three had yet to speak and no one looked at them too closely, everyone knew that they were the real power in the room. They were from the Senior Council, and they’d be the ones who decided the verdict.
Technically this wasn’t a trial, in the same way that technically, I hadn’t been charged with treason. Officially speaking, this was a follow-up inquiry into the attack on San Vittore. But Council inquiries are generally motivated by politics, and the fact that they’d ordered a second inquiry strongly suggested that they were looking for a scapegoat. It wasn’t hard to guess who they had in mind.
“Mage Verus appeared at the tail end of the fight in the control room,” Barrayar was saying. “He claimed to have no knowledge of the creatures engaging us. At this point, Morden and Vihaela were able to override the door to Morden’s cell and advance upon us.” Barrayar paused. “I believe the details of the ensuing fight were covered at the previous inquiry.”
The coroner glanced sideways at the table where the Senior Council were seated, then nodded to Barrayar. “The court will refer to your previous statements.”
“Thank you.”
I managed not to roll my eyes. The “fight” had consisted of Caldera being taken out in one move, at which point Morden and his companion had walked out while Barrayar, Solace, and I stood back and watched. But the real problem, and the secret I had to keep today at all costs, was that “Vihaela” hadn’t been Vihaela. It had been Anne.
“Once the conversation was over,” Barrayar continued, “Morden and Vihaela departed. They left their summoned jinn behind, who began to press upon us.”
“And who was the ‘us’ at this point?”
“Myself, Mage Solace, and Councillor Verus. Keeper Caldera had been disabled.”
“And what happened then?”
“The three of us engaged in a brief discussion on how best to handle the situation,” Barrayar said. “Councillor Verus ended the conversation by declaring that he was going to pursue Morden and Vihaela. He then proceeded to run through the creatures, avoiding their attacks long enough to reach the security gate and lock it behind him.”
“Locking the three of you in th
ere with the summoned jinn?”
“That’s correct.”
Well, of course it’s going to sound bad when you put it like that. At the time my only concern had been pursuing Anne. I’d figured that the other mages could probably look after themselves. I’d been right, though it obviously hadn’t done much to improve relations between us.
“The rest of the battle is referenced in my previous report,” Barrayar said. “We were able to hold out long enough for a Keeper relief force to arrive.”
“Did you have any further contact with Councillor Verus during the incident?”
“No.”
“Thank you, Mage Barrayar, that will be all.”
Next up on the witness stand was Solace. “He just left us there!” she declared. Solace is the aide to Sal Sarque, one of my more vitriolic enemies, just as Barrayar is the aide to Levistus. She’s not as smart or as dangerous as Barrayar, but she can still make trouble, and she was making trouble now. “He could have stayed and helped but he just left us to die.”
The coroner cleared his throat. “You claimed earlier that Councillor Verus was responsible for the attack.”
“Well, someone let Vihaela in, didn’t they? There were only four mages from outside in the facility when it happened, and he was the only one who wasn’t with us. We didn’t see him all the time that we were fighting our way through to the control room.”
“And you believe that Councillor Verus was the one responsible?”
“Morden paid him,” Solace said. “Gave him his chain of office. He said Verus could keep it.”
There was a stir, and a few people glanced at me. I didn’t show any reaction.
“So then he went running after Morden,” Solace continued. “Those jinn didn’t even scratch him. I don’t think they were even trying. Probably Verus was trying to catch up with Morden and Vihaela before they left.”