Shinden Alliance School of Sorcery, Shinden, Allied Clan Worlds, 237/1/17.
At one second past midnight, Nava stepped out of her bedroom, crossed the hall, and opened the door to Mitsuko’s room. The occupant of that room was lying on the bed, naked. Then again, Nava had decided that dressing to cross the corridor was pointless.
‘Happy birthday, Suki,’ Nava said.
‘Thank you,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘Where’s my present?’
Nava closed the bedroom door behind her. ‘You’re looking at it.’
Mitsuko sighed. ‘You always know just what to get me…’
~~~
‘Have you grown extra arms?’ Nava asked.
‘Not that I’m aware of,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘I suppose I am a sorceress, so it’s not entirely impossible.’
‘Hm.’ The sound came out as a sort of moan. Mitsuko’s hands were everywhere. Now that they were in the shower, she had something of an excuse, but it had been like this since Nava had joined her on the bed. It seemed as though, now that Mitsuko once again had access to Nava’s body, she was reluctant to let go. ‘We’re going to sleep after this.’ Mitsuko pouted and made a displeased noise. ‘It’s almost five. In six hours, we have to be dressed and presentable for the graduation ceremony.’
‘I know.’ Mitsuko’s forefinger and thumb closed over Nava’s nipple and squeezed. Nava gasped. ‘I want you one more time before, however.’
Turning, Nava reached down and cupped Mitsuko’s sex, slipping a finger between her labia and getting a gasp for her trouble. ‘That works for me,’ Nava said.
~~~
‘How’s your basic training going?’ Nava asked.
Courtney grimaced. ‘I suppose it’s necessary.’
‘That good, huh? Perhaps things will improve as you progress.’
‘Not according to Kyle and Naomi.’
‘Oh, well I have that to look forward to in four years. Thank you for the delightful view of my future.’
‘I aim to please. I assume you and Suki got reacquainted last night?’
‘And we will continue to get reacquainted after this is done until we go out tonight for her birthday meal. And we will undoubtedly continue once we get home. She missed the intimacy.’
‘And you didn’t?’
‘I did not say that. At least we have Sunday to recover before term starts.’
Courtney grinned. ‘You think she’ll give you that much time to rest?’
‘Now that you mention it, no.’
~~~
‘The DPU are a little, um, disgruntled about the matter,’ Kyle said. He had managed to get the day off to attend his fiancé’s graduation ceremony, though there had, apparently, been some reluctance.
‘What possible reason could they have to be unhappy?’ Mitsuko asked.
‘Their pride took a dent. I suppose I should say our pride, but I’ve seen Nava in action before. They were there to protect the Secretary General and the other dignitaries, but when it came to it, the terrorists were taken out by schoolgirls.’
‘I was actually a member of the ASF at the time,’ Courtney pointed out. ‘Doing basic training, perhaps, but I had joined up. I was in uniform.’
‘I’m aware,’ Kyle said, ‘but I don’t think the DPU sees it that way. To be honest, I don’t think they liked the fact that sorcery was proven to be so effective against traditionally armed soldiers. I don’t think anyone has ever applied Armageddon in the field before and it really did the job.’
‘Its uses are limited,’ Nava said. ‘There is little in the way of open-area battle carried out these days. Most of the engagements the ASF is involved with are police actions. Anti-piracy operations are the closest thing to open battle, and those primarily involve boarding actions. I’m not saying that a spell could not be designed to commit mass slaughter aboard a spacecraft, but Armageddon is not that spell.’
‘That’s beside the point,’ Courtney said. ‘The DPU are just peeved that you upstaged them. They’re being petty.’
Kyle shrugged. ‘They’ll get over it.’
‘One would hope so,’ Mitsuko said, ‘though I don’t suppose the medals are going to help.’
‘Uh, no,’ Kyle agreed. ‘The medals aren’t helping at all.’
237/1/13.
Carina’s heart sank a little when she looked up to find Yaeko, Sommer, and Dove standing around her desk. She had a vague idea why they might have chosen to intercept her before she could leave for lunch, but she decided that feigning ignorance might be the best course of action. ‘Hello, Yaeko, Sommer, Dove. Can I be of help in some way?’
‘It has come to my attention,’ Yaeko said, ‘that you are now living in the same house on the Estate as Mitsuko Trenton and Nava Greyling.’ Aside from a substantive chest, Yaeko was a fairly classic Japanese beauty, a member of the Himura family who generally had fairly solid Japanese heritage. Her black hair was loose, falling to her waist. Her black eyes were trying their best to pierce Carina’s skin.
‘And Melissa Connelly. They were kind enough to invite me to fill the space left by Courtney Martell when she graduated. My family decided I could manage with a much smaller allowance this year after Nava Greyling killed my betrothed in an official duel.’
‘You’re getting above yourself again,’ Dove said. She was, of the three, the most concerned about social station, perhaps because her family did not have the status of her friends’ families.
‘I don’t see it as any of your concern,’ Carina stated flatly. ‘Fate has spoken. We must all bow to its dictates.’
‘Ha!’ Sommer barked. ‘That again. Tell me, you were here when those terrorists attacked over the holiday, right? I know what I would have been doing. What did you do? Hide in–’
‘The Champion of Light bade me break my seals and bring forth my power. Though I admit that the Champion did put my meagre strength to shame in the end, I did my part.’
‘What?’
‘She means that Nava Greyling asked her to help fight the terrorists back,’ Yaeko said. ‘From what I heard, it ended up with Nava Greyling having to cast Armageddon over the whole of the plaza, but that was because the terrorists put up military barriers to stop them being slaughtered with massive Fire Blasts.’ She directed her attention to Carina once again. ‘You who barely made the grade to get in here were part of that barrage?’
‘With my seals released, I can cast rank twenty-six Fire Blast.’ Carina frowned. ‘Honestly, that’s not as effective against modern armour as I’d have liked, but we were making headway. Then they deployed the barriers and we needed something which could attack around or over them, so the… I mean Nava Greyling cast Armageddon while Courtney and I kept the Redwings’ heads down. Armageddon is… It’s kind of apocalyptic. I want to learn it, but even with my seals broken I could only manage rank two. That’s not really big enough to be useful on a battlefield.’
‘And Nava Greyling covered the plaza?’ Sommer asked. ‘That would need at least rank five.’ Which at least proved that Sommer did pay attention in theory classes. ‘I’ve never seen the schema for Armageddon, but if rank two is comparable to rank twenty-six Fire Blast…’
‘That would make Nava Greyling the most powerful sorceress in the school,’ Yaeko said. ‘By a considerable margin.’
‘Of course,’ Carina said, smiling broadly. ‘She’s the Champion of the Light. Of course she’s the most powerful.’
~~~
‘So, yeah, Yaeko isn’t really pleased that I’m living here,’ Carina said that evening back at the house.
‘It’s none of her concern,’ Mitsuko replied absently. It was the start of the new term and she was busy with council matters. Melissa was working with her, and Nava was on their ketcoms from the SSF’s headquarters.
‘I know that,’ Carina replied a little sourly, ‘but I don’t think she does. She was a little impressed that I was part of the conference incident, and she was really impressed with Nava casting Armageddon.’
‘I suppose the whole school knows about that now,’ Nava’s voice said from Mitsuko’s ketcom.
‘Maybe not everyone,’ Melissa replied. ‘Give it a week.’
‘You’re going to have to give them an accurate read on your capacity next time,’ Mitsuko added. ‘By then, no one is going to believe the low figures you’ve been letting everyone see. I’m sure the only reason no one at the school has said anything is that you saved the school from nuclear annihilation.’
‘Mm,’ Nava said.
‘I’m surprised Taryn hasn’t cornered you,’ Melissa said. ‘It’s possible she doesn’t know Armageddon and doesn’t realise your casting means she isn’t more powerful than you, but she seems like the kind of person who’d know it.’
‘Mm,’ Nava said again.
‘I wonder what Yaeko Himura will think when she discovers you’re going to be given a medal, Cari,’ Melissa went on.
Carina let out a moan. ‘Champion of the Light, I’ll need a bodyguard when that’s announced.’
‘Mm,’ Nava said again, but this time she went on. ‘Not happening.’
237/1/27.
‘A medal?’ Yaeko asked, though she knew the answer. To Carina’s general mortification, their homeroom teacher had announced to the class exactly why Carina would be out of class the following Saturday morning.
‘Yes,’ Carina said. ‘Secretary General Misaki Himura insisted on giving us all one.’
‘Personally. She is personally presenting medals to those involved in the incident.’
‘So I’m told. Nava isn’t exactly happy about it. Um, not that you can tell, but I think she’d prefer it without all the fuss.’
‘She saved the school and hundreds of students from ending in a nuclear explosion,’ Sommer said.
‘She says that was mostly the bomb disposal team. She was a little mollified when she found out they would all be getting medals too. But the bomb did have a command detonator, so her taking out the escaping terrorists probably did save the day before the ASF came in to clean things up.’ Carina pulled herself up a little straighter in her seat. ‘The Champion is modest, as she should be. It behoves those around her to sing her praises.’
‘The point,’ Dove said, ‘is that you are going to get a medal from the Secretary General of the Clan Council.’
‘It’s not like it was my idea either. The Key to Darkness is bound to hear about it and–’
‘You’ll be representing our class as much as yourself,’ Yaeko said. ‘You’ll conduct yourself with all the decorum one would expect of a student of this school. None of this Key of Darkness nonsense.’
‘Key to Darkness.’
‘None of that. You are not to embarrass us in front of the whole planet.’
‘I don’t think the entire planet is going to be watching, Yaeko Himura,’ Carina replied. ‘I don’t think giving a few medals out to schoolgirls is going to be that newsworthy.’
Alliance City, 237/1/32.
‘It l-looks like the entire w-world is out th-there,’ Melissa said. She was nervous. She tended to get nervous under circumstances like this. Perhaps she had a little more reason to than usual.
‘The media do seem to be more interested than I would have expected,’ Mitsuko said. ‘Perhaps it’s a slow news week.’
‘Mm,’ Nava said. She did not look nervous, of course, and she was not. Irritated. She was more irritated than nervous.
‘You’ll do fine,’ Fawn said. Fawn was there, despite not receiving an award herself. She was Nava’s ASF liaison and was sort of acting as the producer for all of the girls, including Courtney who was now in the ASF. ‘You just step forward when called and the Secretary General will pin the medal on you, say a few words, and you’re done.’
Except that Joslyn Harris was also at the rear of the stage being used for the presentation too. ‘Just remember that you’re representing the Shinden Alliance School of Sorcery. Remember to be respectful.’ Her gaze fell upon Carina. ‘No nonsense.’
Carina swallowed hard. ‘Uh, when you say “pin,” is there actually a pin because–’
‘They stick on,’ Fawn said. ‘There’s no actual pin to worry about getting pricked by.’
‘That’s one disaster scenario averted.’
‘I hadn’t even th-thought of that one,’ Melissa said.
‘How can you possibly be nervous about this?’ Fawn asked. ‘You teleported into a battle situation without a second thought, yet you’re worried about getting a medal.’
Melissa waved the question away. ‘When Cari jumped me out to join Nava, all I had to worry about was physical death. Here I’m facing s-s-social d-death. That’s almost the same, but I’ll have to l-live through it.’
~~~
Misaki pressed the medal, the Alliance Medal of Valour, to Nava’s dress just below the SAS2 logo, stepped back, and smiled. ‘Congratulations and well done, Captain.’
‘I did nothing anyone else could not and would not have done under the circumstances, Madam Secretary,’ Nava replied.
‘That is humility verging on a lie, Nava, and you know it.’
‘Perhaps. However, my relative power makes my actions less noteworthy compared to the risks taken by the others here today.’
‘Just accept that you did a good thing. You saved countless lives by acting decisively when it was required.’
‘Well, I suppose I can do that. If you’re twisting my arm.’
~~~
There was a press conference which Nava persuaded Mitsuko to handle. It was, she had said, good practice for the next presidential election. Mitsuko had not been convinced by this argument, but she knew Nava well enough to know that putting her in front of a crowd of media representatives was not going to work out that well.
The various correspondents were throwing softballs anyway. The media storm over a Redwing assault on an important institution had happened, largely blowing out before the celebrations of the new year. This was a celebration of the heroes of that incident, and it seemed that the media wanted to portray it as a feel-good story.
‘Do you see this as a vindication of the school’s self-policing policy?’ someone asked.
‘I see this as a vindication of the school,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘Yes, the School Security Force under Nava Greyling was able to enact a lockdown of the school’s buildings thanks to the policy of self-policing, but the training of the students in the SSF was what enabled them to spot the problem and act quickly, despite the jamming of our wireless communications. Of the five people who went out to face the enemy force in the square, only one was SSF, though Courtney Martell is the ex-captain. Further, of those five, only Courtney Martell and myself are, or were, combat students. Nava Greyling selected a force capable of handling the situation utilising all the resources she had available. And we kicked the situation’s butt.’
Shinden Alliance School of Sorcery, 237/1/34.
‘As I have no doubt you’re all aware,’ Yaeko said, ‘next week sees the extracurricular activities fair and the start of the election period for student council president.’ She was speaking to her class during morning homeroom. The teacher had said that Yaeko had an announcement, and Carina had already figured out what that was, just from the opening sentence.
‘Last year,’ Yaeko continued, ‘Student Council President Mitsuko Trenton expressed a desire to see greater participation in the election. Voting was down from the previous year, which concerned her, but it was also the lack of opposition to her re-election which, she said, represented a problem. This school, this time of our lives, is almost unique within the Clan Worlds in giving everyone here the chance to decide upon our governance. We will never again be involved in democratic decisions. I agree with our president that we should all take a more active role in this process. And so, this year I intend to put myself forward as the next student council president.’
The reaction was, outwardly, enthusiastic. Yaeko and her two cohorts were popular within the class, so there would be something of a good reaction to her candidature. On the other hand, even those who admired her might be thinking that Yaeko given real power presented some problems. She had established herself early on as the class’s queen. Those who garnered her displeasure regretted it. Carina had found herself the subject of Yaeko’s ire more than once, and yet she found herself wondering…
~~~
‘I’m really not sure what to think,’ Carina said. Mitsuko had asked her opinion of Yaeko, knowing something of the history between her two juniors.
‘Given that I assumed you’d be generally negative,’ Mitsuko said, ‘I find that statement intriguing and somewhat informative.’
‘From my perspective,’ Nava said, ‘I have no problem with Yaeko Himura. She’s never come to my attention aside from what Cari’s said. Under the circumstances, I might have expected her to complain more or make reports to the SSF, but there’s nothing. I checked. Neither has she been reported for bullying.’
‘Yaeko’s bullying is subtle,’ Carina said. ‘Sort of. You know it’s happening but describing exactly why you’re intimidated might be difficult.’
‘She applies social pressure rather than anything more direct,’ Mitsuko suggested. ‘Not a bad characteristic in politics.’
‘Mm. That’s why I’m not sure about this, I think. I don’t like her. She’s quick to judge and too hung up on social position. On the other hand, she does actually listen to explanations. She’s not unreasonable. Not entirely, anyway. She’s smart, organised, and good at manipulating people. I could see her being good at your job.’
‘She’s a Himura Sonkei,’ Melissa said. ‘That carries about as much weight as the Trenton name.’
‘She is only a second year,’ Carina pointed out. ‘I think that could count against her.’
‘I was elected as a first year,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘Do you know anything about her policies?’
‘She didn’t announce anything.’
‘I see. Well, she will likely need something innovative to make headway. Her lack of experience will count against her, I think, since there is little else to distinguish us. However, if she could come up with some innovative policies, she might pull in more votes.’
237/2/1.
‘Well, I’m pleased to say that there are more candidates this year,’ Mitsuko said. The student council was meeting to discuss the upcoming fair, but the start of the election was also on the horizon. ‘I’ll be up against three competitors.’
‘One,’ Darius countered. ‘The only one with a real chance is, I believe, Yaeko Himura Sonkei. I agree, however, that the fight will be more interesting than last year.’
‘Votes absorbed by the minor candidates will be a factor,’ Marie Royce said. She was the treasurer and a little more attuned to numbers than the others.
‘Agreed,’ Darius said. ‘However, I predict there will be no change at the head of this table this year.’ He paused. ‘Which cannot be said for my own chair. I intend to stand down as the VP after summer break.’
‘Uh, yeah,’ Francis said. ‘Since Darius brought it up, I’ll be standing down this year too. There’ll be the usual selection process once the big summer events are done with.’
Mitsuko favoured both of them with a frown. ‘I suppose I don’t need to worry too much over Francis’s replacement, but this means I’ll need to find someone to take over Darius’s role.’
‘Uh, this is going to be my last year,’ Marie said. ‘I’ll finish out the year, however. Next year you’ll need a new treasurer.’
‘Oh.’
‘That’s probably going to be harder to do than replacing Darius,’ Melissa said.
Mitsuko sighed. ‘Yes, I suspect it will be. We had better start evaluating candidates sooner rather than later. Please make a note, Mel. We can begin the process in the autumn term.’
‘So long as you don’t ask me to do it,’ Melissa said, ‘I’ll make all the notes you want.’
‘Hm. Francis, the fair begins the day after tomorrow. Is everything ready?’
Francis nodded. ‘Everything’s been decided, allocated, and arranged. I’ve got contingencies in place. All we have to worry about are the unexpected problems.’
‘Which is probably where I come in,’ Nava said. ‘I’m instituting the same sort of surveillance routine as we employed for the conference on top of the usual patrol system. If anything happens, we should be on top of it as fast as humanly possible. Is there anything we should expect to go wrong as far as security is concerned?’
That got a shrug from the extracurricular activities chairman. ‘Honestly, it’s different every year. We get minor disturbances of all sorts every year, and it’s different every time. You’d expect the martial arts clubs to be the worst, but we had the Flight Club involved in a kidnapping case a few years ago. Apparently, they tried to drag a promising student into the club when they wanted to do something different. Oh, the Battleball Club will be recruiting for the first time this year. We have a couple of exhibition matches and try-out games happening. They could be worth watching. Professional battleball games can get… rowdy. It’s usually the spectators rather than the players, but with amateurs involved…’
Nava nodded. ‘I’ll get the schedule and be sure to have the games monitored.’
237/2/2.
Things were progressing nicely. The official start of the campaign was tomorrow, but Yaeko had made forward strides already. She had had ‘Vote for Yaeko!’ buttons made, and her friends had been passing them out for a couple of days. It was a novel idea, to the best of her knowledge, something she had read about happening back in the old days on Earth when democracy had been the norm. Candidates would give out badges to allow their followers to express support. She had found no evidence that anyone had ever done it at SAS2, so it would demonstrate her innovative approach to school politics.
That was the theory, anyway. Quietly, in her own mind, Yaeko had to admit that she had no innovative proposals to bring to the campaign. She was much like Mitsuko Trenton so far as policies were concerned. Her commitment to equality was not as strong. She made up for that with a louder voice on the subject of the school’s prestige. She hoped that would push more of the combat stream in her direction; she was support stream and therefore a hard-sell to the combat students. On the other hand, Mitsuko Trenton’s drive for equality tended to alienate some of her fellow combat students…
Yaeko spotted something odd about her apartment door almost as soon as she stepped out of the elevator. The geometry looked wrong, as though something was sticking out of it. This resolved into something attached to it as she got closer, but that did little to normalise the situation. Someone had stuck a folded sheet of paper to Yaeko’s door with one-sided sticky tape. The fold was not especially sharp, so the paper had levered out under its own weight to form a fin of sorts.
Carefully, Yaeko peeled the paper off her door and unfolded it. There was writing on it, carefully printed words. A note addressed to Yaeko. No one wrote personal notes these days. Well, when someone in the Himura family wanted to be very impressive, they would carefully write a note in Japanese to another in the family. Such things were meant more as presents, examples of fine calligraphy, than methods of communication. This was a simple note.
Yaeko Himura,
I will vote for you. You will become president!
A.
Well, that was nice. Someone had taken the trouble to handwrite a note to her and deliver it to her apartment. It seemed quite polite. Well, polite but mysterious. Why not give their name? Polite, but a little creepy.
Yaeko unlocked her door and stepped through, dropping the note on a table she kept beside the door for the express purpose of putting things on for later. Tomorrow, the campaign would be starting proper. She had things to do, plans to make, and no time to worry over mildly creepy notes. By the time Sommer and Dove arrived an hour later, the note had completely vanished from her thoughts.
237/2/4.
There was another note. Yaeko was returning to her apartment after giving her first speech and then taking lunch with Sommer, Dove, and a few others she considered important to her campaign, and there was another piece of paper stuck to her door. This one was folded better, so she had not noticed it until she was right in front of her apartment.
Pulling it free, she opened her apartment door and stepped inside before reading.
Yaeko,
Well done. Your speech is clearly the best of them all.
I look forward to celebrating your election with you.
A.
The best speech? There had only been one other one, and Mitsuko Trenton would not start her campaign until after the fair. Clearly, Yaeko’s secret admirer had more confidence in the outcome of the election than Yaeko herself.
Still no name to put to the correspondent. Still a little creepy. Still, there was no harm in it. No one was getting hurt…
~~~
Nava was taking a turn patrolling the campus when the call came through on her ketcom that there was a brawl in progress at the Battleball Club’s exhibition match. Sixte was there, but he had called through to indicate that he needed help. There were simply too many people involved for him to deal with the issue alone.
Nava was on the other side of the campus, but she pulled together a Teleport spell, decided on appropriate coordinates, and made the jump. That left her standing near a small building associated with the field the club was using, and she could see the ongoing fight from there. She closed the distance, evaluating.
There were twenty-four people currently trying to beat each other to death with their fists. There were more, maybe thirty, watching from the sidelines and showing no signs of trying to break up the brawl. No one appeared to be using offensive magic yet, which was one plus, but she was willing to bet there were Armour and Might spells active among the group. She pulled her ketcom off her dress and tapped a button. ‘Nava here. Get me four more people to the Battleball Club field to make arrests. Nava out.’
That was when Sixte noticed her. Presumably he had been listening in to the SSF communication channel and realised that her request indicated that she had arrived. He rushed over. ‘There was an accusation of cheating,’ he said. ‘It escalated before I could try to stop it. Sorry, Captain.’
‘You were here for this kind of eventuality. I did not expect you to break up a fight like this on your own, Six.’ Nava’s eyes had shifted to where a handsome young man with a lot of muscle on a trim frame was watching the fight. Valentin Janvier Sonkei was the club’s captain. He should have been trying to break up the fight, but he looked rather as though he was enjoying it. ‘I’ll take care of this. When the others arrive, get them ready to make the arrests. I want all of them taken in and we’ll see where we go from there.’
Nava closed the distance to the group of fighting students and raised her hand as she pushed together a spell from the schema she had memorised. The spell process settled into the active portion of her mind comfortably, and she cast it immediately over the entire group. Instantly, twenty-two people collapsed onto the grass, every voluntary muscle in their bodies suddenly unable to perform its job. That left two of them upright having resisted the spell. Statistically, that was about right for your average spread of Clan World citizenry. One of the two was looking around, slack-jawed, with blood running from his nose. The other pulled back his right leg to kick the man he had, until recently, been fighting. Then he let out a shriek of pain as Nava’s Concussive Force spell hit him in the left leg, knocking him off his feet to crash onto the grass. He continued screaming once down; Nava figured she had shattered at least one bone in his leg.
‘All of you are under arrest,’ Nava announced loudly. ‘Six, get their names and check that idiot. His leg is probably broken. Valentin Janvier Sonkei, please walk with me.’ Turning, she stepped away from the fallen combatants and the spectators who had been watching them. Valentin stared at her for a second and then followed her toward the building.
‘A regrettable incident,’ Valentin said. ‘Players can become–’
‘Let me be clear,’ Nava said in a low voice, ‘if anything remotely like this happens again, your club will be the shortest-lived club in school history.’
‘Captain Nava Greyling, I hardly think–’
‘I think you were enjoying that display, but I can’t prove that, so you get off with this warning. Control your people or you won’t have people to control. Am I making myself quite clear, Valentin Janvier?’
He glared at her. He was a Sonkei, damn it! Of course, the Janvier family was nothing compared to the Greylings and trying to intimidate Nava was a complete waste of time anyway. He broke first, as usual. ‘Quite clear, Captain. What will you do about the people involved in the fight?’
‘They’ll likely get off with a warning and a note on their permanent record. It depends on how badly injured everyone is. All except for that idiot I knocked down. I’m going to see to it that he gets a couple of days of suspension. Kicking a fellow student when he’s down? Literally.’
‘Hm,’ Valentin said. ‘At least we can agree on that one. It’s a shame. He looked quite promising on the field too, but that kind of attitude is inappropriate in the game.’
‘Really? From what I’m seeing of battleball so far, that kind of attitude seems perfect for a battleball player. I’m going to be watching, Valentin Janvier. Don’t screw up again.’
237/2/5.
‘So, I received a complaint about Nava,’ Francis said. He was trying to keep a straight face and failing. ‘Apparently, you threatened Valentin Janvier.’ Nava just stared at him, so he went on. ‘I suggested that was unlikely, and Valentin amended his statement to say that you had threatened his club.’
‘That would be true,’ Nava replied.
‘Since he created it,’ Mitsuko said, ‘he probably thinks of the club as an extension of himself.’
‘Probably,’ Francis agreed.
‘I told him that I would shut it down if there were further cases where I had to process twenty-four people through the infirmary and then book them for fighting,’ Nava said.
‘Yeah. I think he was expecting me to take his side. I told him that you had the right to do it and that the EAC would not support a club which reflected badly on the school. Public brawling does not reflect well on the school. Plus, I heard the fight started over accusations of cheating. One of the non-magic players cast a spell. If they manage to get into any competitions outside of school and then start cheating…’
‘Do you think I need to have a word with Valentin Janvier?’ Mitsuko asked.
‘Not yet. We’ll see how things turn out. To be honest, it’s mostly a winter game and they won’t be able to field a team until next autumn at the earliest.’
‘So, it will be somebody else’s problem.’
Francis grinned. ‘Basically, yes.’
237/2/6.
‘The early polls are out,’ Melissa said. It was something to talk about over the evening meal.
‘I saw,’ Mitsuko replied.
‘You haven’t even started your campaign and you’re ahead by five percent.’
‘I’m aware.’
‘You don’t seem terribly happy about it.’
‘It suggests that people are still not really paying attention to the election. Most of the students have already decided. They knew how they were going to vote, if they vote, before the campaigning began.’
‘That’s pretty much how elections work,’ Hoshi said. She was eating with Rochester and the others tonight, which was not always the case. ‘Back when democracy was common, people tended to vote based on how they always voted. A minority shifted from one side to the other based on their current views, thus causing changes in leadership, but most stuck to their principles, no matter how stupid they were.’
‘I know. I just have this view that some of the most intelligent people in the Clan Worlds should be better than that.’
‘You’re not that naïve, Suki,’ Nava said. ‘Being intelligent does not preclude stupid behaviour. Intelligence and common sense, for example, have a very weak association.’
‘That’s not an invalid point, but I continue to have hope.’
‘Spend some time with an SSF patrol. That should rid you of any hope you have for the human race.’
‘I refuse. Everyone should be allowed one delusion.’
‘This sounds like it should be my area of expertise,’ Carina said.
‘Unfortunately, all the testable delusions you have have turned out to be real things. All we really have left is the Key to Darkness, and if they turn out to be real, we’ll all be destroyed by a dark god.’
‘No, I’m pretty sure none of you really believe that Nava is the Champion of the Light.’
There was a short pause before Hoshi spoke for the table. ‘No, that one doesn’t really sound like too much of a stretch either.’
237/2/7.
These polling results are worrying. Not good enough. Do better.
Today’s note was short. Very short, in fact, and it did not bother with names. The handwriting was, however, fairly distinctive and the presentation – folded and stuck to Yaeko’s apartment door with tape – suggested that the mysterious A was the originator.
What bothered Yaeko was the implied threat. There was no threat there and, taken on face value, there was nothing really threatening to be read into it. But it was imperative, commanding. It lacked the politer, enthusiastic tone of the first two notes. Do better, or what? What would A do if Yaeko’s polling numbers did not improve?
In truth, Yaeko was disappointed by the polls herself. Mitsuko Trenton was giving her first speech in a little under an hour having put the fair behind her. She had yet to speak, and she still had a strong lead over her opposition. Yaeko was second in the polls with the others well behind, but that was not good enough for A, it seemed. Or Yaeko, if she was honest. It was possible that Mitsuko Trenton might lose some votes in the lower years after they had heard what she had to say, but Yaeko doubted it. Or, if that happened, there might well be a corresponding shift among the upper years in the other direction.
What Yaeko needed was some sort of unique selling point, a policy which would really get her noticed. That she would need to think about. What she did not need to think about, too hard anyway, was taking the notes to the SSF. They had been creepy, and now they were threatening. It was time to talk to Nava Greyling.
~~~
‘You have a stalker, Yaeko Himura,’ Nava said.
‘I had concluded that myself, Captain Nava Greyling,’ Yaeko replied. She had hoped to do this entirely privately, but she was in SSF HQ, at Nava’s desk, and Lydia Bonfils could hear everything that was being said. Then again, Lydia was SSF, so it should be okay…
‘It’s not entirely uncommon. You’re attractive. You’re popular. You have a high-profile public persona. Stalking is less common than it once was since modern communications technology is highly traceable, but it still happens.’ Nava waved one of the notes. ‘This is not a very traceable communication technology.’
‘I thought there were spells which could locate someone from handwriting.’
‘There’s Locate, but that works best with DNA samples, blood, or hair. Using a handwritten note is better than nothing, but not much better. I’ve tried and I can’t get anything on your correspondent. On top of the relatively useless reference material, they likely employed Scryguard while writing the notes.’
‘I see. There’s nothing you can do?’
‘Hm. Lydia will run a search on the security data for your building.’
‘Already doing it, boss,’ Lydia called out. So, maybe it had been a good thing that Lydia was listening in. ‘You know they’ll have used Evade Detection, though.’
Nava nodded. ‘If they thought to obscure their signature when writing the notes, they’ll have hidden themselves from cameras.’
‘But wouldn’t there be some sort of record of their entry into the block?’ Yaeko asked.
‘Maybe. Frankly, the locking panels on most of the blocks can be bypassed with relatively low-skill attacks, but putting that aside, how many guests do you think are admitted to an apartment block like yours every day? And that assumes your stalker isn’t another resident. We will look, because it’s good to be thorough, but identifying whoever it is that way will be a matter of luck rather than judgement.’
‘I see.’
‘I can assign you a bodyguard, if you wish?’
‘No… No, I don’t feel that’s necessary. I mean, this last note is more disapproving than threatening. There’s an implication that they might do something, but it’s not exactly a threat.’
‘It could go either way. I’ll do some research into the psychology, but I believe they’ll be just as likely to send you a nasty letter and say you’re no longer their favourite as they are to take violent action. Try to avoid going anywhere alone.’
Yaeko gave a small grimace. ‘I came here alone.’
‘I’ll escort you back to your apartment. In future, try to keep either Sommer Chevalier or Dove Harris with you when you’re outside your apartment.’
‘You, uh, know my friends?’
‘Only by reputation. Carina Schwartz does live in the same house as me.’
‘Yes.’ Disapproval leaked into Yaeko’s tone, which annoyed Nava. ‘Is it really true that she was using high-rank magic during the terrorism incident over winter?’
‘Yes. I know that her tales of secret dark cults sound like deranged delusions, Yaeko Himura, and I don’t believe much of them myself. However, some aspects of it are real. For whatever reason, part of her capacity is denied her, except when she really needs it. Cari is a powerful sorceress hobbled by an unknown suppression mechanism. And, frankly, she was kidnapped as a child. That much is on record. I know she’s weird, but she does what’s needed when it comes to it, and she is probably not someone you want to make an enemy of.’
237/2/8.
‘Is this another one of these notes?’ Sommer asked. She was indicating the folded paper taped to Yaeko’s apartment door, and she knew what was going on, so it was pretty obvious that it was.
‘Yes,’ Yaeko said.
Sommer pulled the note free before Yaeko could get to it. ‘Oh. Well, maybe Nava Greyling will have to do something more now.’ She handed the unfolded note to Yaeko.
You should not have gone to the SSF. This has nothing to do with them!
Now I’m going to have to punish you.
‘Oh,’ Yaeko said. ‘That doesn’t sound good.’
‘No, it doesn’t. Okay, we’ll tell Nava Greyling about this, but what she said goes double now. You are not to leave your apartment without me or Dove. Or both. Maybe one of us should start sleeping over. You have a spare room.’
Yaeko looked at the note once again. ‘If you wouldn’t mind, I think I might like that.’
237/2/9.
In the end, it had been Dove who spent the night in Yaeko’s spare room, so it was Dove who was escorting Yaeko to breakfast in the morning. She was taking her role as guardian seriously, which was just like her. It was a status thing: Yaeko, someone of higher status than her, was relying upon her, and Dove was not going to let her down.
‘You have another speech this afternoon after classes,’ Dove said, ‘but we’ll both be there for that. In fact, we’ll both be with you all day. We’re not letting you out of our sight until this is resolved.’ She put a hand out to stop Yaeko from opening the building’s front door before her. ‘And I’ll be checking outside before you put a toe through that door.’
‘You may be taking this a little too far.’
‘Too far is better than not far enough.’ Dove stepped outside and scanned the area. Like most of the apartment blocks, there was a gap of three or four metres between this block and the next with a wide paved walkway between them. There were a few people about, though traffic was relatively sparse. No one she could see was acting in a suspicious manner. There was currently no one closer than about fifteen metres anyway. ‘Okay, we’re good. Come on out.’
‘Why thank you,’ Yaeko said with just a hint of sarcasm. Dove stepped away from the doorway and Yaeko stepped out, letting the door close behind her. ‘I really don’t think they’re going to do anything too–’
Dove let out a grunt of pain and lurched sideways. Her shoes scraped audibly on the paving stones and it was only because she was a fairly nimble girl that she stayed on her feet, but there was pain on her face and her arms wrapped around her ribs in obvious discomfort.
‘Dove!’ Yaeko shrieked, rushing over toward her friend. Concussive Force was the obvious culprit, and if Dove had been shunted to the right, then the magician had to be on the left. Yaeko was blocking another shot with her body, reversing their roles.
‘I think… broken ribs,’ Dove winced through the pain.
Yaeko pulled out her ketcom. ‘I’ll have help here in moments.’
‘There was no one nearby. Didn’t see… anyone.’
‘Don’t worry about that now. You should sit down.’
‘If I do… won’t get back up. I guess this is your punishment.’
Yaeko’s jaw tightened. ‘Apparently.’ If the stalker wanted to punish Yaeko, he should have chosen to do just that. Coming at her through her friends… ‘I’d better warn Sommer, too.’
‘Yeah, but he… won’t go after her now. I was with you. He wanted you to see– Ow, this hurts. He wanted you to see me getting hurt.’
‘Coward,’ Yaeko hissed.
‘Huh.’ Dove managed a weak smile. ‘Isn’t that kind of the definition of a stalker?’
~~~
‘There wasn’t anyone closer than fifteen metres,’ Dove said. ‘I’d swear there wasn’t.’
‘Which probably saved your life,’ Nava replied. She was interviewing Dove and Yaeko in the infirmary. Dove had already been treated but was being kept there for the rest of the morning at least for observation. ‘You were right about the broken ribs, but you got away without any organ damage. That kind of damage from a Concussive Force spell suggests at least rank three. Concussive Force is a relatively short-range spell, however. It loses some of its effect after about twenty metres. I’d suggest they used at least rank five from beyond twenty metres, which makes it a good shot, but less likely to cause lethal injury.’
‘Don’t you need a permit for that rank?’ Yaeko asked.
‘You do, and about sixty percent of the student body has one. It doesn’t narrow down the suspects much. However, your stalker has committed an act of violence. I can devote more resource to the case. I will be assigning some people to guard you. All three of you, so try to stick together so we can reduce the workload. Have a sleepover or something.’
‘Fair enough, but I can’t go on like this. I have a campaign to run.’
‘Mm, well, I have one thought on how we can find the stalker, but you’re not going to like it. We’ll discuss it tonight. That will give me a few hours to think of something else.’
‘Because I’m not going to like your plan at the moment?’
‘You won’t. And Suki is probably going to hate it almost as much.’
~~~
‘There has to be something else we can do,’ Mitsuko said.
‘I’m not coming up with anything,’ Nava replied. ‘Whoever it is, they’re very good at concealing their tracks.’
‘Couldn’t we fake it?’
‘The election is run by the school. That means the list of candidates is maintained by the school. Yaeko Himura’s name will only leave the list if she stands down as a candidate, so the stalker is likely to see through the ruse unless Yaeko Himura really does withdraw her candidature. We could try talking to the administration, but my reading of the regulations is that they can’t add a candidate after campaigning starts.’
‘I’ll arrange a meeting with Auberon.’ Mitsuko turned to face Yaeko. ‘And what do you think of this plan, Yaeko Himura?’
Yaeko looked back wordlessly for several seconds before deciding she was being rude. ‘I don’t want to withdraw, but I can’t continue like this either. I… I’m a little surprised that you’re so against it, Mitsuko Trenton. I’m well behind in the polls, but I’m your only serious competitor. Surely–’
‘That’s precisely why I don’t want you out of the race. Yes, you’re behind, but you may come up with something to close the gap. The others… No. If Taryn Borchardt had put her hat in the ring again this year, I would be less worried about losing you, but she did not. Democracy only works when there is serious competition for the incumbent. Couldn’t we just keep things as they are? If you lose, the stalker will probably react in the same way.’
‘I’ve been trying to come up with something, some policy, to pull me up in the polls. All I can think about is seeing Dove flying through the air and coming up with horror stories about what may happen next. I’m in no fit state to be your competition.’
‘And what happens if her poll numbers drop, Suki,’ Nava said. ‘I don’t think the stalker will attack Yaeko Himura directly, so I’m faced with watching anyone else who might be attacked. It isn’t just Sommer Chevalier and Dove Harris. There are others helping with Yaeko Himura’s campaign, and any of them could be seen as not pulling their weight or worse. There’s also the possibility that you’ll be attacked, Suki.’
‘You can’t be sure there’ll be a direct attack if she withdraws,’ Mitsuko asserted.
‘I can’t, but it’s more likely. It’s a personal betrayal.’
‘What if I stand down?’
‘Then I win, and the stalker keeps trying to control me all through my presidency,’ Yaeko said. ‘I did some research on stalkers too. This is about control. They want to feel like they have control over me and what I do, and they won’t stop until someone stops them. It’s quite possible that they would follow me once I leave school.’
Nava nodded. ‘I believe this is our best course of action. It’s not good. I’m not trying to make it sound like a good option. It’s a little too much like letting them win, and if I’m wrong and they don’t try to punish Yaeko Himura for her apparent betrayal, we certainly lose. Take some time. Maybe between us we can think of something else. Maybe Suki’s persuasion skills can get the administration to bend the rules.’
‘Saturday afternoon,’ Yaeko said. ‘If we can’t think of anything else, I’ll make my statement on Saturday afternoon. That gives us all day tomorrow to think of something, but I won’t wait longer. This may be the end of my career in school politics, but this honourless coward hurt Dove and they are not going to get away with it!’
237/2/11.
‘It is with considerable reluctance,’ Yaeko said to the watching crowd, ‘that I am withdrawing my candidature for school council president, effective immediately.’
There was not exactly uproar, but the general effect she was seeing was pleasing. The rep from the News Club looked surprised. Those there to hear her give another speech looked shocked and a bit outraged. The announcement that she would be making an unscheduled speech that afternoon had been given out in homeroom that morning. There had been speculation on the info-net channels that she had some new idea which would swing the vote in her favour. And here she was resigning.
‘The circumstances of my withdrawal are not to my liking,’ Yaeko went on, quieting the noise. She looked tired, like she had not slept in a while. That was, in fact, the case. ‘For the past little while, I have been the subject of someone’s obsessive interest. That person, under the banner of supporting my candidature, recently injured a close friend of mine. Analysis of the attack by Captain Nava Greyling and her team suggests that, but for the relatively short effective range of Concussive Force, Dove Harris would be dead today.’
The News Club rep was feverishly tapping at his ketcom. This was apparently not something the gossip circuits had picked up. A lot of people knew about the attack on Dove, but far fewer knew why it had happened.
‘This stalker, this utter coward, has chosen to attack my friends. That someone has been hurt simply for standing by my side is something I simply cannot tolerate. While I remain in the public eye, I cannot vouch for the safety of those around me. Hence, as of today, I am no longer a candidate for student council president. Thank you for your attention.’
Turning, Yaeko left the stage without waiting for questions. All she could do at this point was hope that Nava Greyling’s plan worked. And that the publicity from this episode proved useful when she tried again next year.
237/2/12.
Yaeko’s apartment was silent at three in the morning. She was, of course, in bed by that time since she had classes in the morning. She was certainly not expecting visitors.
Then again, when her apartment door opened, there was no one visible on the other side. The no one who was there stepped inside and closed the door behind them as quietly as possible before crossing the lounge to the main bedroom. The apartment was much like the one Mitsuko had had in her first year with the main bedroom accessible directly from the lounge. The bedroom door was opened slowly, carefully, and as silently as possible. As the no one did this, they prepared the Paralysis spell for casting; Yaeko needed to pay for what she had said, but at this stage terror was more important than violence. Yaeko was going to learn that she was not as important as she thought she was. Yaeko would learn her place. Yaeko… was not in the bed.
‘You are not the only one capable of casting Invisibility,’ Nava said from the corner of the room. ‘Yaeko Himura is at my place, under guard. Also, I know how to see through Invisibility, Angélique Girard Sonkei.’
Angélique turned on the spot, raising a hand toward where she thought Nava was. Nava was there, but she was also faster. A Magic Bullet spell hit Angélique’s bicep, tearing flesh and smashing bone. Instead of casting Paralysis, the stalker let out a shriek of pain and collapsed onto the carpet, bleeding from her destroyed arm. Nava checked her pulse to be sure, but the woman was still alive and would be fine after Nava used Active Recovery on her.
‘The carpet,’ Nava said to the unconscious woman, ‘might be another story.’
~~~
‘A Girard Sonkei?’ Yaeko asked. ‘Why would she do something like this? They aren’t the strongest family in the clan, but–’
‘Not everything is about status,’ Nava replied. It was breakfast time and Nava was briefing both Yaeko and Mitsuko on the events of the previous night. ‘Though, in this case, status was involved. As you said, the Girards aren’t the strongest family in the clan. Angélique Girard was very concerned with it in some ways. Conflicting ways, actually. She believes strongly in differentiation by personal, familial, and clan status, but she also believes herself above all that. If she can gain advantage over someone of higher status, then that person doesn’t deserve the status they have. She’s complicated. I used my ASF authority to get a psychological profile that was done on her three years ago.’
‘So, she’s done something like this before?’ Mitsuko asked.
‘She tends to foster obsessive relationships with people she’s barely, or never, met. Her family hushed the previous incidents up and sent her for counselling. Clearly, that treatment was insufficient, and no one saw fit to notify the school of the potential problem. I used my SSF authority to check that there had, in fact, been no such notification. The administration did not know that they had taken in a ticking timebomb.’
‘That’s something. I may mention this to Father. He may wish to speak to someone in the Girard family.’
‘I suspect the school will wish to do the same.’ Nava looked back to Yaeko. ‘So, that’s the end of your stalking incident, Yaeko Himura.’
‘And all it cost me was a run at the presidency,’ Yaeko replied. ‘Of course, the poll results for just before I withdrew are out and the gap between me and Mitsuko Trenton has just widened. I don’t suppose I had much chance of winning.’
‘I do try to do a good job,’ Mitsuko said, ‘and getting a medal for heroism probably did not harm my chances of re-election.’
‘No. No, it didn’t. Maybe I should have waited for next year anyway. I will be trying again next year.’
Mitsuko smiled. ‘I should hope so. We can’t let a little thing like a psychotic stalker get in the way of our political careers, can we?’
237/2/33.
‘Very well,’ Mitsuko said from her position at the head of the conference table, ‘let’s get this done with so we can all take a break.’
‘Of course, President,’ Darius said, a vaguely smug smile on his face. ‘I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your re-election.’
‘There wasn’t exactly much competition.’
‘Perhaps not. It may be that you don’t receive serious competition prior to your retirement. We can hope that the race that year will be more enthusiastic.’
‘Well, you decided not to stand against her, Darius,’ Marie pointed out.
‘Precisely. Speaking of competition, why do we have Yaeko Himura with us?’
‘Because she’s going to be taking over from you when you quit,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘I’d like her to start shadowing you next term, if possible, so that she can hit the ground running.’
‘Turning your major competitor into your VP. That is very magnanimous and quite sneaky.’
‘Well,’ Yaeko said, ‘I suppose it will make me less inclined to run against Mitsuko next year. I can learn the job and make my election the year after more likely.’
‘And we get a better president out of it,’ Mitsuko said. ‘I’m looking to the future, so to speak. However, right now I’m looking to a future in the sento at the Trenton mansion, so let’s get the boring stuff out of the way so that we can get on with enjoying ourselves.’