Witch of the federation.., p.7
Witch Of The Federation IV (Federal Histories Book 4), page 7
Todd turned his head to face the front. He didn’t know what to say—or whether to be horrified or relieved that the sergeant had known and decided to give him the chance. He’d worked darned hard to overcome the scars left by that first mission and had honestly thought he was past it.
As if giving him time to gather himself, the man changed the subject. “I’m giving you Team Six, so you have Piet. Try to keep the mad bastard from blowing himself up.”
“And Jimmy, Gary, and Reggie from killing each other. Gotcha, Sarge.” He grinned, his spirits lifting with the responsibility.
He’d been given a team. It was something he’d worked long and hard for, but he hadn’t expected it so soon. The sergeant’s next words were meant to be sobering.
“Do your best, boy.”
“Copy that.” He was still grinning when he returned to the crew compartment.
“Well, it looks like someone’s been shagging the Sergeant.” A distinctly British accent colored the statement and Todd let his grin grow wider.
“It was a darn sight better than shagging you, Gary.”
That created a ripple of laughter as the man pursed his lips. “You bitch. You said you’d never tell!”
“Someone has to warn Jimmy what he’s gotten himself into.”
The Scot gave a shout of mock outrage, and more laughter followed. Todd ignored it and scanned the compartment until he found the man he’d been assigned to. “Piet!”
His teammate looked up from the kit he was checking.
“You’re running with me,” he told him, and Piet nodded.
“You gonna help me or get underfoot?”
Todd grinned. “It all depends.”
Piet reflected his expression. “Good.”
His grin faded and he returned to his equipment as Todd settled beside him. Neither of them spoke. The Australian looked at them. “You’re getting awfully cozy there. You’re not thinking you can lead us, are you?”
He stood. “You know I can.”
Reggie scrutinized him carefully and obviously remembered their last training session. “All right, mate, we’ll give you a go.”
“But don’t go getting us all killed,” Gary interjected to add his two cents’ worth.
He smiled. “What? You want me to keep you alive? And here I thought this was a golden opportunity to stop your bitching for good.”
“Nah, mate,” Reggie told him. “You do that and Jimmy there is gonna cry.”
“You have a point,” he agreed, po-faced. “I’ll have to kill them both.”
Reggie burst into laughter, and Gary grinned. Jimmy even cracked a smile.
“You’ll do, mate,” the Australian told him and turned his attention to his rifle again. “You’ll do.”
Suppressing a sigh of relief, he returned to his seat. Piet ignored him as he counted out a dozen detonators and slid them into his belt pouch.
The shuttle began its descent, and Todd’s tablet pinged. He pulled it out and looked at the instructions the sergeant had sent through.
“Team Six, we’re up,” he announced and watched as half a dozen men snatched their kit and began to check each other’s rigging.
He gathered them around him and showed them where they had to go.
Gary gave a soft whistle. “That’s gonna be a challenge.”
“Speak for yourself,” Jimmy snapped, but he frowned as he studied the tablet.
“Piece of piss,” Reggie decided, and the others rolled their eyes.
“So, we have to get them out,” Piet observed. “And then I can blow it up?”
“Maybe…” Todd told him cautiously. “It depends.”
Piet smiled. “Okay, then.”
He breathed a quiet breath of relief. There were three families and he didn’t want the man to blow any of them up.
“Are we walking in, boss?”
“Nah, we’ll take a truck to about here.”
“It’s gonna get nicked if we leave it there,” Gary told him.
“Yup,” Reggie added. “Nicked for sure.”
“We can’t have that,” Gary said. “Those things have direct comms to main command. If they fall into the wrong hands, your ass is grass.”
“We’ll lock it up,” Todd replied.
“That won’t save it,” Gary muttered darkly, and their leader pulled a small device from his pocket.
“This will,” he replied and stuffed it in again before the Brit could get a good look at it. The device was something he’d cooked up himself, even if he had run the specs past Frog when he was done.
“I’m thinking we leave it here and walk in,” he added. “Thoughts?”
The team crowded around, and he let the older hands have their say. In the end, the route they chose was close to his original suggestion with only a couple of tweaks. They dropped the truck off without any trouble and started walking.
Two blocks in, they located a rebel patrol.
“Fucking brilliant,” Gary muttered as they sank into cover and everyone knew he meant it was anything but.
The air sparkled in the afternoon light as Stephanie faced the mages. Of those who had gathered around her the night before, only fifteen had been able to make the journey at short notice. Beside her, Tethis frowned. He cleared his throat and she inclined her head toward him.
“Why here?” he asked. “It seems an odd place for a shuttle.”
She smiled and let him stew as she surveyed the gathering. The mages who had approached her the night before had packed as instructed. Each one carried a backpack of clothing and the boys had brought two low-loaders of equipment from the ship.
To her surprise, the old Teacher waited patiently for her answer and was studying her intently when she turned back.
“I’m not going to like this, am I?” he asked, observing her face, and she let her smile turn into a grin.
“Oh, I don’t know. It all depends on what you can tell me about the gates to Earth.”
His jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide.
She frowned. “You are one of the Masters who created the teaching for them, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but never,” he began, “have I taught it since. The training is almost dead and were it not dire times, I might refuse to remember it, even now.”
“Why?”
“Because I lost many of my friends—contemporaries as powerful as I was—to gates that went nowhere…or went somewhere unknown…” His eyes took on a faraway look and misted over with memory. “They were never heard from again. And then there were the worlds we did find…”
“Yes?” she pressed when he fell silent, again.
“More often than not, we’d end up fighting their inhabitants.” He sighed. “It seems, in hindsight, that it was a foolish use of our magic to create something that only brought pain and sadness.”
Stephanie shrugged. “I hear you,” she told him, “but at least this time, we know where we’re going.”
Tethis chuckled. “Yes. We’re going to the planet of the child who shamed me and now, I am teaching a baby how to walk among the stars.”
Behind Stephanie, Lars looked over at Vishlog. “Well, that didn’t sound ominous or anything.”
“Right,” Frog quipped, and sarcasm edged his words. “What a great idea. Let’s teach Stephanie how to skip from planet to planet because it should make for a short life.”
“Short-er life,” Vishlog rumbled, but he was smiling as though the thought didn’t bother him at all.
Lars chuckled. “Well, since we already have the life expectancy of a gnat, I don’t see why we’re complaining. If we die by teleporting into the middle of a sun, at least we’ll go up in a blaze of glory.”
“Don’t you mean,” Frog asked, “like a short fart on a gaseous giant’s afternoon?”
If their words reached Stephanie, she ignored them or she was too engrossed in what Tethis was teaching her to notice.
“Focus,” the old mage urged. “You need to make sure you have the coordinates right.”
“I thought you did this without coordinates,” she pointed out and he glared at her.
“Just because we did it the hard way doesn’t mean we have to repeat the experience,” he snapped. “This time, we have coordinates, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be a piece of cake. It merely means the cake is more likely to be made of chocolate than shit.”
She stared at him. “Why don’t you say what you’re feeling?” she asked. “It’s making me feel so much better.”
“Smartass,” Tethis grumbled. “Now, try it again. We have to get the preparations exactly right.”
“Coordinates and all,” she muttered but she released a long, slow breath and focused, drawing in more MU and gMU as she did so.
Chapter Seven
Todd studied the group ahead of them. “We need to go around them,” he said, and the team looked askance at him.
“I’m serious, guys. This close in, if we attack them, we’ll never get to the hostages in time. The rebs will realize something’s up.”
Gary shrugged. “What do you have in mind, boss?”
It was a step up from “boy.”
“I think I need someone to get me past the security on that door,” he decided and indicated a nearby building. “I don’t want any alarms to go off, and I don’t want us on camera.”
“I can do that.” The quiet answer was accented by something new, but Todd left the analysis for later. The woman who slid past him had coffee-colored skin and angular cheekbones. Black ink curled down her chin and her dark eyes took in the patrol, the cameras, and the routes to the door. “Give me five.”
It took her less and she ushered them through before she secured the door behind them.
“Nice one, Ka,” Reggie muttered as she brushed past him.
She snickered. “Mark one up for the sheep-shaggers, eh?”
“That’s not what I meant,” he whispered, and she patted him on the head.
“But you were thinkin’ it.”
“I would never dare.”
Todd led them to the building’s basement and then through a small door into the tunnels beyond it.
“The sewers?” Gary asked in a fierce whisper. “That’s your brilliant idea?”
“Man, are you whining again?” Reggie sniped. “Don’t you ever stop?”
“You know he’s like the battery bunny,” Jimmy told him. “They never stop.”
“The sewers,” Todd confirmed. “Remember, the main mission is to get there undetected, pull the families out, and get out as undetected as we can manage.”
“I can’t blow it up?” Piet asked and sounded disappointed.
“We might need you to do that to cover our exit,” Todd told him. “It—”
“Depends,” the man said. “Got it.”
He sounded happier, though.
Gary looked at the sewer and sighed.
“Suck it up, princess,” Reggie snarked, and Todd glared at the two of them.
“It might not be pretty or smell all that good, but it’s the best way if we’re gonna storm an anthill and get non-coms out of there unharmed. No one expects the Federation Navy to go underground.”
“They got that right,” Gary griped, but Todd ignored him and led them into the tunnels.
They didn’t bother with torches but used night vision and trotted swiftly through the dark. Rats fled before them until he slowed the pace.
“We’re almost there,” he said and withdrew the tablet. “Eyes.”
They crowded around him, using their bodies to shield the tablet’s soft glow.
“See?”
“Yup.”
“Gotcha boss.”
When they’d all had a chance to look, he tucked it away. “Let’s take it slowly from here. There’s no telling where they’ve set guards.”
“Nothing says they’re smart enough to think down,” Gary sniped. “After all, isn’t that what you’re banking on, boss?”
“I don’t bank on anything much,” he told him and Sanmar’s Reach threatened to engulf him. He pushed it away. “Nothing’s guaranteed.”
There must have been something in his voice because Gary backed off.
“No offense, boss.”
“None taken,” he told him, but his voice was still rough. “Jimmy, Gary, Reg. Take point.”
“Way to not take offense, boss.”
Reggie thumped the Englishman. “Shut it.”
“Suck up.”
“Nah, I simply like you walkin’. Fuck knows why.”
They moved forward and as their voices faded to silence, a hand patted Todd on the shoulder.
“Thanks, boss.” Ka stepped beside him and he gave her a puzzled look.
“What for?”
“For not being a gung-ho asshole. I was worried your girl might have rubbed off on you.”
She moved ahead to partner with Reggie.
“What did she mean by that?” he murmured. “How would Steph have rubbed off on me?”
Piet came alongside him. “You know. You might have to prove you’re better than she is—or at least as courageous.”
Todd shook his head. “If I was gonna try it I’d need to have the magic to back that kind of attitude up.”
The men around him laughed quietly and followed those on point. He let them move ahead and checked his tablet once more. When he was sure of where they were, he made a short call on the comms and screwed it down tightly so it went exactly where he needed it to and no further.
Stephanie raised her head and looked at Tethis. “Yes?” she asked, and he gave her a wavery smile.
“Yes, child.”
She pushed to her feet and offered him her hand. He hesitated for only a moment before he took it and let her help him to his feet.
“I’m not that old.”
“No, but it’s nice to not have to do everything yourself, right?”
“Yes.”
Before she could say more, her attention was caught by a small group of Meligornians climbing out of a top-of-the-line shuttle and hurrying toward her. Tethis followed her gaze but remained silent.
Lars appeared at her side and Vishlog’s presence could be felt at her back.
“San T’virilf,” the team leader noted, “and he has company. Were they expected?”
“We did not discuss them,” Stephanie replied.
“They’ll need testing.”
“Yes.”
The team smiled pleasantly as the shipping magnate halted in front of her. He breathed a little heavily, but the pack he carried bulged. She refrained from commenting on how much it must weigh.
“Kaitel gorniffula,” he said and greeted her with a bow shared by equals.
Stephanie returned it and glanced at the Meligornians who’d followed him. “I did not expect you to bring company.”
He looked concerned. “I hope it is not a problem. These are my best. Should I fail to return, they will implement what we design.”
“And you trust them?” she asked.
His face registered shock and he nodded. “Of course. They are my contingency plan for the future. I trust them with my life.”
“Hmmm.” She turned to Lars and held her hand out.
He passed her the rod they had created after the assassination attempt on the Ebon Knight and held up the sheaf of pictures. “If you will forgive us,” he said and stepped past T’virilf to the first Meligornian.
“Hold your hand out,” she ordered and he did so, casting a puzzled glance at T’virilf.
The businessman nodded, and the Meligornian took the rod. Lars held up the first picture showing the universe and the man looked at it. When he held up the second showing the Teloran, he looked concerned and glanced once more at this boss.
It was only when Lars held up the third picture showing Stephanie victorious against a Teloran that he reacted to the bar. He opened his hand. “It’s so cold,” he noted with a curious look at Lars. “How did you make it do that?”
The team leader gave him a small smile and pushed him gently toward T’virilf. “You pass. Wait with your boss.”
He did as he was told but looked very confused.
They repeated the process with the other two and had the same response from each.
“You must tell me how that works,” the third one said. “I assume it’s some kind of security device.” He gestured toward T’virilf. “He needs all the protection he can get.”
The businessman frowned, and the Meligornian gave him a sunny smile. “You know what they say, Sen. You can take the Meligornian away from the security sector, but you can’t—”
“Prevent him from looking over his shoulder,” T’virilf finished with a rueful smile. “I understand.”
He looked at Stephanie. “He used to be my equivalent to Lars.”
“And then he discovered I understood magic and physics,” the Meligornian continued. “I’ve had nothing but challenges since.”
“And thrived,” the businessman told them. “This is Clerelt.”
He indicated the other two scientists. “And these are Lirilf and Beseila. As I said, two of my best engineers and scientist-mages. We will need them.”
“Well, they pass so they can come,” Stephanie told him.
He frowned. “What would have happened if they had not?”
Lars shook his head. “It’s best not to ask.”
The answer, though, was clear. Everyone could see the Morgana’s darkness tinting Stephanie’s eyes. Fortunately, it faded swiftly and her eyes returned to their natural blue.
She looked out across the gathered mages and signaled for them to come closer. Once they had gathered around her, she fixed them with a stern eye.
“We are going to Earth,” she told them, and her tone brooked no argument. “There, you will answer only to me. You will go where I want you to go, support who I tell you to support, and accomplish what I set you to accomplish. Whatever else needs to be achieved, you will achieve.”
She paused, studied their faces, and noted their expressions of rapt curiosity. “In this way, you will Bleed for Meligorn and the Federation that protects you. If you are prepared to do all that,” she finished, “step forward.”
The mages advanced as one, determination in their eyes.
