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The next moment I was aware of, I was sitting in the front row next to Donnell again. I had no memory at all of coming back to my chair. In fact, I must have missed at least five or ten minutes of time, because Machico was out in the centre of the room, pretending he’d lost a playing card, and searching for it in the ears of the front row of children.
Tad whispered from behind me. “I didn’t know you could sing like that, Blaze.”
“I didn’t know I could sing like that either.”
Machico discovered his missing card in the ear of a delighted five-year-old Queens Island girl, and all the children gurgled happily. Machico gave a bow to his audience, and came back to stand in front of Donnell and pull a wry face at him.
“You and Blaze were an impossible act to follow.”
Donnell didn’t seem to notice he was there.
Machico waved a hand in front of his eyes. “Sean? Sean? Are you on the same planet as the rest of us?”
There was still no reaction.
Machico sighed, snapped his fingers right in front of Donnell’s nose, and Donnell’s right hand shot out to grab his wrist. “Don’t do that, Mac. You know I hate you doing that.”
“Ah, you’re back with us, beloved leader.” Machico sat down in his chair, and glanced at where Julien was getting reluctantly to his feet. “Good luck, Julien. The crowd was gossiping through the first half of my act, but they’re starting to pay attention again now, so you should do better than me.”
“I hope so.”
Julien headed out into the centre of the room, whispered to the musicians, and they began playing. Julien’s voice was powerful rather than melodic, so he always chose crowd-pleasing songs, shouting out the words at full volume, and drawing his audience into singing along with him.
As he started singing this time, there was a loud burst of laughter from all around Reception. It took my dazed brain a moment to work out why. Julien, with his history of drinking problems, was singing a song about a man seduced into a wild lifestyle by whiskey.
Julien reached the chorus, waved both arms in encouragement, and everyone in Reception joined in, singing as loudly as possible. I watched in bemusement as Julien continued solo through the next verse, calling out words of repentance for past sins and a promise to do better in future.
Everyone joined in with the chorus again, the singing so loud now that it seemed to shake the room. I turned to raise an eyebrow at Donnell, and he leaned towards me, speaking into my ear to make himself heard over the din.
“Cleverly done by Julien. A public apology for his past behaviour, and a promise to reform, all delivered in a song that people enjoy. I think Julien’s learned a lot from recent events, and may end up being a good officer after all.”
The song ended with words about asking for forgiveness from parents. There was a final triumphant chorus, followed by loud applause. I expected Julien to come back and sit down, but instead he ran forward, dramatically dropped to his knees in front of Donnell, and bowed his head in supplication.
More laughter came from around the room, and then there was silence as people waited expectantly for Donnell’s reaction.
“Chaos weeping, Julien,” said Donnell. “It’s not me that you should be asking for forgiveness. I’m not exactly in control of my drinking either. If you want to grovel to someone, and beg for their absolution, then it should be Blaze. It was her apartment that you tried to set on fire.”
Julien swung round to face me, and held out both hands in a pleading gesture. I hesitated, knowing that I had to accept this apology, and in a way that matched the good humour of the song. Julien had been singing about asking the forgiveness of parents, and had knelt before the father figure of Donnell, so I should play along with that.
I pointed a scolding finger at Julien. “Don’t do it again, or you’ll go to bed without any dinner. Understand?”
“Yes, Mother,” said Julien, in exaggerated, contrite tones.
I patted him on the head, and people applauded loudly as Julien got to his feet. Donnell stood up as well, and waited for the noise to die down before speaking.
“We’ll take a break for dancing now, and there’ll be more entertainment later.”
Julien bowed to me. “Will you dance with me, Mother?”
“Of course.”
Men were getting to their feet now. If their preferred partner was in the same division as them, they could ask for a dance directly. If not, they had to go through the ritual of asking the appropriate division leader’s permission first.
Donnell turned to Natsumi. “Can you deal with the partner vetting for me, please? Now that Cage has gone, I’ve only got Major and Shark formally blacklisted.”
Natsumi nodded.
There was a clattering sound from over in the Manhattan corner. I turned and saw Wasp had stood up but dropped one of his crutches. Shark picked it up, and held it towards Wasp, only to pull it away at the last moment, then Viper grabbed away the second crutch. Wasp went tumbling to the floor, and Shark and Viper stood over him, holding the crutches out of his reach, and laughing.
I looked at Wall, saw he was busy with a queue of men waiting to ask permission to dance with Manhattan girls, and stood up to take a few steps towards the Manhattan corner myself.
“Viper and Shark,” I called, “we haven’t reopened the hospital area of Sanctuary yet, but the rules about respecting hospital patients still apply. Give Wasp his crutches back.”
Viper and Shark gave me angry looks, but Wall was glowering at them now, so they dropped the crutches on the floor next to Wasp and stalked away. I waited to check that Wasp was able to get up by himself, then went back to Donnell, before turning to frown at the Manhattan area again.
“Why is Deuce waiting to talk to Wall?” I asked. “He’s a member of Manhattan division. He doesn’t need to ask Wall’s permission to dance with a Manhattan girl.”
Donnell looked across at where Deuce was talking to Wall, and grinned. “I think the answer is that Deuce is a brave man, but not a suicidal one. He wants to ask Mist to dance, but he’s playing safe by asking Wall’s permission first.”
“Oh.” I watched Wall beckon to Mist, and saw her go across to put her hands on her hips and glare at both him and Deuce. “I think Mist prefers to make her own decisions about her dance partners. I can see her point.”
“That’s unfortunate, because I need to lay down a few rules about your own dance partners,” said Donnell. “Now that you’re my deputy, you need to consider the alliance political implications of everything you do. Please don’t dance with anyone from outside the Resistance tonight. If you did dance with a division man, it would have to be Wall, Ice, or Ghost to show respect for their status. That would commit you to dancing with both of the other two as well, and then I’d have to dance with Raeni, and I’m not in the mood for that after singing your mother’s song.”
Donnell leaned closer to me, and his voice dropped to a whisper. “And absolutely no dancing with Tad. Despite my warnings about being discreet in public, he still keeps putting himself at risk by gazing adoringly at you.”
I flushed with embarrassment, and was relieved to hear the musicians begin playing. As I went to join Julien for the promised dance, I heard a loud shout from Donnell.
“Don’t tread on your mother’s feet, Julien.”
There was laughter from all sides, and I pulled a rueful face at Julien. “It’s far more likely to be me treading on your feet. I’ve hardly ever been asked to dance before.”
Julien took my hand. “It wasn’t that nobody wanted to dance with you, Blaze. After your brother left, none of us understood the situation between you and Donnell.”
“I can’t blame you for that. I didn’t understand it either. At least you didn’t keep calling me a traitor the way that Luther did.”
Julien grinned, took both my hands, and swung me around so that I was facing the rows of Resistance seating. My eyes automatically went to where Tad was sitting, a resigned look on his face.
Julien tugged me closer to him, and spoke in my ear. “Just look at Luther’s sulky expression.”
I glanced at where Luther was slumped in his chair. “What’s he so upset about?”
“I expect he’s sulking about my song being so popular,” said Julien. “I’m grateful to you for playing along with that, Blaze. After the way I’ve behaved in the past, you’d have been perfectly justified in taking revenge on me by wrecking my public apology.”
“I’m happy to forget the past so long as you genuinely intend to do better in future.”
Julien pulled a face. “I’m doing my best. Totally giving up alcohol isn’t easy, especially when Luther tricks me by swapping my cup of water for one of whiskey, but it’s my only option. Donnell says he isn’t in control of his drinking either, and it’s true that when something deeply upsets him he’ll get wildly drunk for a day or two, but he drinks in moderation most of the time. Whiskey has far more of a stranglehold on me. If I have one drink, then I can’t resist having another and another.”
Julien led us through some fancy dance manoeuvres, so I had to concentrate on what my feet were doing for the next couple of minutes. When I had attention to spare again, I noticed that Julien was frowning at something behind me.
“Is there a problem?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. Luther stood up as if he was going to ask a girl to dance. I don’t know whether that was a girl in the Resistance or one of the divisions, because Donnell chased after him and grabbed his arm to stop him. They’re talking now.”
Julien continued dancing in a desultory fashion for the next minute, clearly distracted by whatever was happening between Luther and Donnell. When the dance music ended, Julien released me, and said a perfunctory word of thanks before concentrating his attention on Luther and Donnell again.
I turned to see what was going on, and discovered Donnell and Luther were standing in front of the Resistance seating area. They were only a few steps away from me, but their voices were pitched too low for me to hear what they were saying. Even without hearing the words though, it was obvious from their faces and body language that they were both angry about something.
Aaron came up to me. “Can I dance with you next, Blaze?”
I gave him a worried look. “Yes, but I hope that doesn’t mean I’ll be expected to dance with each of Donnell’s other officers in turn. Machico will want to dance with Natsumi, Vijay and Weston will want to dance with each other, and Luther is in too foul a mood to want to bother with me.”
“I promise that you’re only committing yourself to dancing with me.” Aaron gave me a rueful smile. “The alliance officers are more than fulfilling our duty of providing entertainment tonight. The drama of your song, then Julien’s musical apology, and now it looks as if Luther is about to indulge in a full-scale tantrum.”
The musicians started playing again. Aaron took one of my hands in his, and put his other hand on my waist, but kept me a tactful hand’s breadth away from him as we danced.
“Donnell has told me about the situation between you and Tad,” he said, in a low voice.
I was shocked into a stumble, but Aaron steadied me. “He did? Exactly what did Donnell say?”
“We were talking about you being Rebecca’s guardian, and I said something about the possibility of us marrying one day, so Donnell explained that you and Tad have an affection for each other. I know that must be hard for you when Tad will be going off world.”
I grimaced. “Yes. It’s going to be painful saying goodbye to him, but it will only be a temporary separation. Tad will come back to Earth later.”
“I’m sure he’ll try to come back to Earth, but ...” Aaron hesitated, and pulled me a little closer to him so that he could whisper in my ear. “Tad is the heir of the Thaddeus Wallam-Crane dynasty. That’s bound to complicate things.”
It complicated them far more than he realized. Aaron knew that Tad was Thaddeus Wallam-Crane the Eighth, but not that he was webbed, or about the pressure he was under to reinvent interstellar portal technology. I couldn’t go into long explanations now, so I just nodded.
“I hope that ...”
Aaron’s words were interrupted by Donnell’s furious voice. “I told you to stay away from her!”
The musicians abruptly stopped playing, and all the dancers turned to stare at where Donnell and Luther were aggressively facing each other.
“I’ll dance with whichever girl I choose,” Luther shouted in defiance.
“No, you won’t! Not when she’s only fifteen years old.”
I blinked, and exchanged startled glances with Aaron. Everyone knew that Donnell had argued fiercely in favour of the alliance rules protecting young people from being pushed into relationships with powerful adults like Cage or Major. Luther was only nineteen, so an age-related exception to those rules would permit him to have a relationship with a seventeen-year-old, but he was a fool to think Donnell would allow him to get involved with someone who was only fifteen.
“You’re an alliance officer, Luther,” said Donnell. “Your job is to enforce the alliance rules, not to break them!”
“I didn’t think there was any alliance rule against me dancing with a fifteen-year-old girl.” Luther pulled one of his sulky faces.
“You were doing far more than just dancing with her when I walked in on the two of you in that Sanctuary store room yesterday.” Donnell was yelling at full volume now. “Chaos weeping! I’ve let you get away with a lot of things in the past, Luther, but I told you I was drawing the line on this one and I meant it. My officers don’t take advantage of underage girls.”
I heard a scuffling sound from behind me, and turned around. A couple of minutes ago, the small children had been happily sitting in rows, watching the dancing, and clapping along to the music. Now they were huddling against the wall in silent panic.
I hurried forward, dropped to my knees in front of them, and held out my hands in a reassuring gesture. “There’s no need to worry. You’re perfectly safe. No one is angry with you.”
“That’s right.” Aaron moved past me to scoop up his daughter, and then sat on the floor next to me with Rebecca on his lap.
The argument was continuing behind us. “I don’t see the problem,” shouted Luther.
Donnell made a sound of exasperation. “I’ll tell you the problem. You’re not just an adult, and four years older than the girl, but an officer in a position of authority over her. Don’t start claiming that this is true love either. It’s only a few weeks since you came to me and suggested you should marry Blaze.”
“That was different,” said Luther.
The children had settled down in their rows again, but were still staring warily past Aaron and me, watching what was happening between Donnell and Luther.
“I know it was different.” Donnell’s voice was contemptuous now. “You wanted to marry Blaze because you thought that would get you the alliance deputy leader position. She had the good sense to turn you down, so now you want to console your ego with an adoring fifteen-year-old, who’s too inexperienced to realize that your good looks hide a shallow, self-centred brat.”
“Don’t you dare speak to me like that!” screamed Luther.
I saw the children’s alarmed expressions, and looked over my shoulder just in time to see Luther swinging an inexpert fist at Donnell. Inevitably, Donnell dodged the blow, and then punched Luther on the jaw, knocking him to the floor.
“Luther, you’re no longer an officer,” said Donnell. “Go to your apartment, and start packing your things. I’m taking away your access to the sixth floor of the Resistance wing, and moving you to an apartment on the second floor.”
Luther slowly got back to his feet, hesitated as if he was thinking of attacking Donnell again, and then stalked off towards the curtain to the Resistance wing of the building. He paused as he reached it, and turned to yell at Donnell.
“You can go pollute yourself!”
I assumed Luther intended to appear bravely defiant, but he spoilt the effect by immediately scuttling off through the curtain. Donnell exchanged pointed looks with Weston, and both Weston and Vijay went after Luther.
“I apologize for that disturbance, everyone,” said Donnell. “Please start dancing again.”
The children had learned to respond quickly to danger, but also to make the most of any good moments offered. From their viewpoint, Luther had been the threat, and he had gone. Once the musicians started playing, they were soon happy again. Aaron put Rebecca down, and watched her rejoin the other children, before leading me back into the dance.
I sighed. “I thought Luther was starting to put his sulking and tantrums behind him.”
“So did I,” said Aaron. “We were both wrong. Luther’s father was Donnell’s best friend and loyal deputy for decades. Donnell was willing to put up with a lot from Luther for Kasim’s sake, but the boy has pushed him too far this time. Donnell will never accept him playing games with an underage girl.”
Aaron and I continued dancing in silence until the music stopped, then turned to walk back to the Resistance seating. I frowned as I saw a look of exhaustion on Phoenix’s face.
“Would you like to go back to your room now, Phoenix?” I asked.
“Yes, please.” Phoenix struggled to her feet.
“Should I come along with you to help Phoenix up the stairs?” asked Aaron.
I shook my head. “Thank you for the offer, but I’m sure Braden and Tad can give her any help she needs.”
Braden nodded eagerly. “I’ll take one of these chairs with us, so Phoenix can sit down and rest after each flight of stairs.”
Braden picked up his chair, and led the way through the curtain into the Resistance wing. He and Phoenix started climbing the stairs, but Tad caught my arm.
“I need to tell you something important,” he whispered.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I’ve discovered where Cage is hiding. While you were dancing, one of my algorithms alerted me to unusual power fluctuations across the river in Manhattan.”
