All is Fair

Extract from the personal files of Twenty Hargreaves

September 8th, V26 (2046AD) – Afternoon

“Are you sure about this?” I asked, desperate to begin.

“It’s fine, go ahead. You know you want to” giggled Nata, lounging back and observing me with half closed eyes. “I am sure it is not your first time”

I was kneeling on the floor in front of her, both of us in the luxurious Lounge room of Miss Longflower’s residence. Nata was stretched out on a plush covered lounge, her armoured coat neatly folded beside her. With a trembling hand I reached forward and laid it near Nata’s lap.

“Nice kitty” I said softly and let it sniff my hand. The ginger furred cat in Nata’s lap regarded me with solemn eyes, then nuzzled my outstretched fingers. With a sigh of relief I started to stroke its soft furry head and it leaned into my hand, making me rub harder.

We both purred in satisfaction.

“I can’t believe Miss Longflower has so many cats” I said to Nata, continuing my stroking of the adorable feline.

“It goes with the territory, you know, her being a Witch” Nata said drowsily. She had slept a little since our fight last evening, but she did not have the fast recovery my cloned body allowed me. I could make do with as little as two hours sleep every twenty four hours. By my standards I was well rested.

It did not take long for Nata and the cat she held to drift off into contended slumber. I stroked the dear little thing a while longer then drew back my hand.

“You have a gentle touch” observed Miss Longflower, closing the Lounge door behind her quietly as she entered the room. I stood and followed her to a pair of leather chairs set further away from Nata, our feet making no sound on the deep pile carpet. We both wanted to let her rest.

“Thank you for allowing us into your house” I said and bowed at the waist to her before I sat. “I understand it is an uncommon honour”

“It is my pleasure” she responded and arranged her flowing skirt around the arms of her chair. Despite my expectations, she wore a summery long dress printed with pale blue flowers, matching the blue ribbons holding her hair back. Miss Longflower looked nothing like the Witches of my imagination. Her hazel coloured eyes regarded me with interest as I sat with almost military posture in my own chair.

“Are you really four hundred years old?” I blurted out then caught myself, embarrassed to my core. Without Millie here, why did I start asking the kind of things she would?

Miss Longflower gave a tinkling laugh and hid a smile behind her delicate hands.

“Yes, Twenty, I am” she admitted without any concern. “It has been such a long time since I spoke with people that I had forgotten how forthright they could be”

“My apologies, Miss Longflower” I said contritely. “The past few days have been very unsettling for me. I am not used to dealing with so many emotions at once”

“I know, and I understand” she consoled me. “From what I have heard you have conducted yourself admirably”

“Do you think Sister Venerae will be able to convince Miss Deeds to let Millie go?” I asked her.

“No Twenty, her master won’t release Millie without gaining an advantage” Miss Longflower answered as kindly as she could. “A Warlock is involved in this, and other greater powers. They will not give away anything they have without good reason”

“Will they hurt Millie?” I said, trying to hold my emotions in check.

“If they think it will benefit them, yes” she admitted sadly. “Mortal lives mean nothing to Warlocks. It is why I despise them and why I will help you get Millie back” Her voice had risen as she spoke, and I could see the power she had in her, the air around her almost sparking. Air currents picked up her hair and draped skirt, swirling them about her. Then her face and posture relaxed and the energy filling the air dissipated, her hair falling down to drape itself gracefully around her shoulders once more.

“Goodness, I do apologise, Twenty dear” Miss Longflower said a little breathlessly. “Talking about our most hated enemies does get me a little flustered” She reached to a side table and tinkled a small brass bell that sat on it.

“Perhaps some afternoon tea will settle us down while we await the return of Venerae?”

A young man in a long tailed coat opened the door and approached his mistress.

“Tea and coffee, please Arthur, and perhaps some of those little cakes you made this morning?” she asked politely.

“Of course, Madam” he said and left to prepare the tea.

She turned her gaze to me once more. “And now we just need to wait” she told me.

=====

Venerae returned in the afternoon, a large black raven perched incongruously on her left shoulder. For some reason it looked apt on her, like she was the embodiment of an ancient Norse goddess. I remembered what she had told me of her shared bloodline with Millie and considered it may well be the truth.

She came to me first, standing in the front of our little group of Longflower and Nata. Her eyes were downcast and I knew before she spoke that Millie would not be freed without a price.

“It is not your fault” I said to her, pre-empting her own words. Venerae looked at me then, the anguish she felt for her niece written clear on her face. I stepped forward and embraced her, our heads at an equal height. “I do not blame you” I whispered to her alone and she embraced me also.

I stood back and Venerae nodded her thanks to me. The raven on her shoulder called out once and then jumped off and flew the short distance to Longflower. With elegant grace the witch held out her arm and he alighted, hopping to seat himself on her left shoulder. The bird leaned into her ear and seemed almost to be whispering to his mistress.

“So what do we do now?” I asked the room.

“We strike back at them” answered Venerae. She addressed me directly “You were given a secure file from Jericho-Three some days ago. Do you still have it?”

“The file? Yes, it is on my phone” I said in surprise. “How does it help us?”

“Jericho has been compiling data for five years now with my help, ever since the last major Warlock incident in the city. He believes the Warlock never left and has been slowly building up support and influence, prior to commencing this current operation”

I transferred the file from my phone directly to hers as she presented it. These direct transfers did not involve the network at all, which made me realise why Jericho-Three asked us to bring it to Venerae personally.

The Sister reviewed the files and nodded in satisfaction.

“An identical file will have been delivered to Bishop Wainwright” she continued. Her eyes sought out Nata and something passed between them. “The original Judgement order still stands. Whomever the Warlock is, they and their creations face destruction under the terms of the Covenant”

“No matter who they are” said Nata, her voice firm.

“No matter who” confirmed Venerae.

“So who does he think the Warlock is?” I asked Venerae.

“The newest member of the Board of Governors, Kai Tran” she replied.

“Should be easy to find then” suggested Nata.

=====

The four of us were seated around a huge mahogany table in another of Longflower’s many rooms. I sat next to Nata on one side and facing us were the Witch and the Sister. Parsifal the raven was perched on the back of a chair beside his owner, listening to our discussions as alert as any person. I was amazed at how well trained he was, unlike any other bird I had encountered in my brief life.

“How does she train him to do all of these things?” I whispered to Nata while the other two discussed some minor detail. The bird in question was staring right at me with his yellow eyes, almost like he understood my words.

“You do know he is a Familiar, right?” questioned Nata. “And don’t say a Familiar what?” she added, forestalling my own reply. “Seriously, what do they teach you clones?” she muttered.

“Mostly tactics, weapons training and vehicle operation” I answered honestly. “Witchcraft was not considered a useful topic for the Guard instructors to teach us”

“Fair enough” Nata agreed. “Parsifal is a creature drawn from the other side of the Boundary, bound into an animal form. The species are related to the Mares we talked about before but a lot less dangerous. Witches and Warlocks use them as servants, but they gain certain abilities from having one bound into service.”

“So he is effectively a slave, just like the Guard” I stated. That did not sit well with me but I knew it was not a topic to debate here and now. It was something I planned to ask Longflower about once the current crisis was over and I had Millie back.

“OK, we are agreed then” said Venerae, dragging my thoughts back to our original purpose. “With Longflower’s help we are going to get into Governor Tan’s residence and try to capture him. Our objectives are to identify where Millie is being held and obtain the antidote to the nano-virus”

It all sounded so simple when it was stated that way. We would face multiple problems getting to the Governor, but having a small team worked to our advantage for a stealth mission.

Our target was holed up in a penthouse at the top of an exclusive residential tower overlooking the bay. He had the two uppermost floors dedicated to his personal use, with his staff living in the lower floor. Access was highly restricted and the upper floors were only linked by a special elevator that serviced his two floors, the lobby and a private garage in the basement.

A small landing pad for VTOLs was on the reinforced roof, with a staircase linking that to his open air patio. There were dedicated air defences connected to a sophisticated scanner array that monitored all nearby air traffic.

His personal security detachment was comprised of six ex-military elites, all heavily enhanced and armed with the latest military weaponry. In addition there was a small staff of cook, maid and butler in residence, plus his personal assistant.

The biggest problem my companions expected was the presence of Mares. Between the Witch, the Sister and the Novice they managed to fill me in on the essentials. In brief, our Warlock could have multiple deadly beasts hiding among his staff or carried as objects, waiting to spring out and rip us apart.

My Marked rounds would be effective against the Mares, whether still in their “Hosts” or in the open. It concerned me that these special bullets were otherwise standard, meaning if my targets were armoured I may not be able to get them to penetrate.

A solution was to have my two pistols carrying different rounds. I would have liked to use Suppression rounds in one, in case I had to disable a normal human. Considering the gravity of what we could face, I would load Armour Piercing in my second weapon.

Hand to hand combat was highly likely in room to room engagements, but that was where Venerae and Nata would be first and foremost. My role was to provide covering fire with my pistols and a shotgun that Longflower provided.

It was an old style 12-gauge pump action that had been in her possession for many years she claimed. I examined it closely and noted it was well maintained. One of her staff had brought a box of shells for it also, wrapped up in a black bandana that smelled of engine oil and cordite.

The shells looked to be in useable condition, twenty four in total, with a set of small characters painted by hand along the side of each. I asked Longflower if these were special in any way, and she cryptically called them Giant Slayers. Venerae told her that was in very bad taste but she laughed anyway. I was to use them against anything too heavily armoured for my pistol rounds, which really made me itch to try them out.

During the process of loading weapons and equipment, Venerae presented me with a metal sphere, about the size of a baseball. She had brought it with her from her hotel room she said, half expecting to use it on Deeds.

“You know all about these I am sure” she told me. I nodded and added it to my equipment for the mission. I had asked where she had obtained something like this, but she just shrugged and said she had gotten it some years back. The armourers at the Order had recharged it for her, but she thought I would be in the best position to know when to use it.

After we had finished checking our gear, I approached Venerae with the sword Freya. I told her where the weapon had come from and the experiences Millie and I had using it. I asked her if she knew what kind of enchantment was laid upon the blade. She looked at the inscription for a long time, running her fingers over the small circular one with the arrow.

“Oh Goody” she sighed at last, “What did you do?” I could see her eyes were glistening as she held the weapon.

“Is it dangerous for Millie or I to use this sword?” I wondered.

“No, Twenty, it will be very safe for you both” she answered. “Freya will do whatever you ask of it”

“It is a Soul Binding” said Longflower, joining the two of us. “I can see her aura shining within”

“What does that mean?” I looked between the two of them, neither one wanting to say more. Venerae finally agreed to speak.

“It is forbidden magic, something few Adepts would willingly perform. It takes a piece of a person’s immortal soul and binds it into an object. The original soul is diminished and the Church considers it a blasphemy to allow it, as the soul can’t progress to the afterlife without its missing piece”

“Why would she do such a thing?” I was stunned. How could she have done this to herself?

“It gives the object power that none others could possess. The sword has been made into a weapon capable of injuring and even killing beings from the Dark Side. It draws its own energy from beyond the Boundary, meaning anyone, even one who is not an Adept, can use its power. It’s like Gudrun is within the sword, helping guide it in battle”

“I wonder if she even knew what she was doing to herself when the binding was made?” finished Venerae.

“Can we free her soul fragment?” I demanded. I was not sure I had a soul, but if Venerae thought poor Ms Goody’s soul was trapped in there then she needed to be released.

“In time, with the right rituals” she agreed. “But it will have to be after Millie is safely returned to us. Gudrun gifted her the sword for a reason, of that I am sure. It has saved you both already, and you will need it again”

I stood close to Venerae, challenging her, and she met my fierce eyes without hesitation.

“This is what it means to fight for the Order” she said flatly. “We do things not because they are noble or just, but because we have to. Our sins are our choice, knowing we must commit them for a greater reason”

“That makes you a fanatic, Venerae” I answered her. She nodded sadly.

“It makes me pragmatic, Twenty, but my words weren’t for you”

“They were for me” Nata spoke up, so quiet until now. “Isn’t that right, Sister?”

“Yes, Novice, they were for you” Venerae acknowledged. “When the Bishop asks you to take my place in the Order, you must be prepared to accept the burden you will place on your soul”

“I understand, Sister, but I hope you won’t leave the Order soon”

“Thank you Nata, but after all this is done, I think I am ready to retire. Forty years in the Earthly Host is long enough for anybody.”