Unfit, page 6
I reach out to Kajo, not harbouring much hope of getting him through his electrokinetic shields. It’s why I’m surprised to feel a connection form.
He’s downtown, kneeling on the roof of an office tower, overlooking the Coalition’s fortress. Sadness and grief shadow his mind. His mother has been killed in the chaos. His house has been destroyed. He has come there to die. To die and destroy the Coalition with him if he can. He waits to find the chronomancers he’s certain are involved. Once he finds them, he will attack.
So you can destroy them? I ask, surprising him.
Kwan? He says. I feel some of the darkness leave his soul when he hears me. He rises and looks about to see if I’m near him.
I’m not here. You’re thinking too loud.
My mother blasted the house, rather than be taken by the chronomancers.
I know, I say. Friends are all Kajo has left. He’s never met his father: that much I determine from the connection. He has no relatives. His mother came here all the way from Wyverna, so he is halfway around the world from any demesne of his kind.
The image of the chronomancer assassins comes up in his mind again. Using his mental images as a beacon, I reach out, looking for the killers. I sense them to the south-east of Hillvale. Maybe in Graal. I’m not too sure.
All right. I will go there and pay the chronomancers a visit, says Kajo.
He visualizes a journey to find them. I feel a gulf of loneliness beckoning him.
Not without me you won’t, I say. It’s a bit out of character for someone like me, who’s never even been out of Hillvale. But I would be a terrible friend to let him face this alone. Besides, in this chaos, I might even be safer around a Lightning.
If only this little trip of his wouldn’t clash with school. Perhaps I can convince him to go on a weekend.
I will wait for school to end, says Kajo.
His mind has already forgotten suicide. I can sense him planning a renewed future.
Yes, Kwan. It is time I stepped up and took our half of Hillvale.
Why not the entire demesne? You’d make the very best Namika in history.
Oh Kwan. He laughs.
I was serious.
I must go prepare. See you in a week.
I release Kajo and think to myself about the unusual deal I’ve just made. What word can best summarize my mood right now? Excitement? Trepidation? I think somewhere in between.
“Haw, a date with Kajo?”
“Grandpa! You’re awake.”
“All that loud ’pathing, how could I sleep?” He sits up and swings his feet off the bed, so he can stand up and stretch his spine. I remain put, knowing he doesn’t want help in this simple activity. “Now who’s this young man I see in your mind? And who’s that, his mother?”
“Greg’s my boyfriend now, Grandpa. He’s introduced me to his mother and now I’m staying over there getting lessons.”
“Pity. Now you’re off the market for lonely men like me.”
“Buzzard! I was never on the market for you. How come you keep forgetting we’re related?”
My grandfather laughs and walks over to the window. I notice his gait is fairly smooth. His hip must be almost fully healed.
“Forget? I got a memory an elephant would be jealous of. And what’s going on outside. What was all that racket last night.”
I stand up and join him at the window, where I grasp his arm at the elbow. Spurred on by the physical contact, we enter rapport. He sees my memories of last night.
“Haw! Those Lightnings got themselves in a pickle all right. And this must be Mrs. Lanarr.
I let him watch my first day’s lesson with the tutor. He watches it piecemeal, just flipping to the interesting parts, and slowing at the moment when my parents meet Greg’s.
“That’s why I’ve not been by to bring you your lunch lately, Grandpa.”
“Seems you’ve got yourself a pilgrimage with Kajo too, m’dear.”
“A pilgrimage?”
“Ya. It’ll impress that cuckoo Lanarr lady too.”
“Who are you to call someone a cuckoo, you buzzard?”
“I sense through your memories a darkness in her. A hidden side of her, tucked away. I must meet her so I can evaluate her myself.”
“No way, Grandpa. She’s married. Go ogle the nurses instead.”
My grandfather laughs loudly. “No dear. It’s much more than getting a gander of a bit of tail. I sense it will be life and death for you.”
“You’ve developed a sudden talent in chronomancy?”
“Tell her of your travel plans, dear one. I think she’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
I end up spending all day with my grandfather.
Around noon I go home to my parents’ to prepare him a lunch. This gives me a chance to see that last night’s riot is finally calming down. I catch up on gossip and find out the telekinetics running the ‘Canoid have disbanded. The rumour-mill says that Kajo is planning to declare shortly, so the political climate is already shifting.
By the time classes would normally end for the day, a taxi shows up from the Lanarrs’. The driver buzzes the office to ask for me.
I leave my grandfather playing lawn darts and board it while the driver holds the carriage door. Mrs. Lanarr awaits me as I alight on their front doorstep.
“Come child, you mustn’t tarry late in that part of town,” she says, as she removes her glasses to peer at me
I give a respectful curtsy. “It’s not dangerous. For me it’s home.”
“A home that will tear you apart if you’re not careful. Come now and sup with us.”
Using the neatly manicured hand holding the glasses, she points down the hall. I precede her, as directed, into the dining room, where I take a place across from Alešan. Panne sits beside her, then Greg, and then a man I’ve not seen before. On my side, the stranger’s daughter and wife are seated. Greg’s father sits at the head of the table and Mrs. Lanarr comes to sit beside me.
Alešan wears heavy makeup today. It’s the expensive arsenic-based kind decried by bios worldwide, but it’s highly resistant. She eyes me with open hostility as I sit down. I try to ignore her while I focus on remembering my dining etiquette lessons.
Little rat, see how she concentrates on what fork to choose.
The thought pops into my head from Alešan. Her hatred for me must be consuming her entire public mind for me to hear it without even trying to read her. I keep my eyes down, hoping to go on ignoring her, as the introductions take place around the table.
She can’t hear me. I think Greg was lying about her being a telepath.
I cannot help but glance at Greg. Why has he told Alešan my secret? It wasn’t his to share. Oh well. It doesn’t matter after rescuing Tiller last night. The entire demesne will know soon, when word spreads of me putting that chronomancer to sleep. What with Kajo’s plan to take over East Hillvale, my telepathy need not remain a secret. It’s hard to get used to, but soon I will no longer need to fear the Coalition taking me away.
The stranger at the table turns out to be a business associate of Mr Lanarr, who has brought his family over for dinner. Their agenda dominates the table for most of the dinner despite Mrs. Lanarr’s frequent attempts to divert them to more general topics.
I make it through without major mishap, since I have Alešan gloating whenever I go to make even the slightest misstep. Dessert is an expensive sorbet, with a chocolate drizzle and fruit on the side. For this, I would happily dine with a dozen Alešans.
Lessons are delayed while Mr and Mrs. Lanarr make some last minute discussions with their guest. Alešan, Panne and I retire to the study room to wait.
When I sit in my desk, Alešan walks over and sets her two hands down on it, so she can stare at me.
“Very good work at dinner, Kwan. I almost couldn’t tell you were born in a manger.”
“I was born in a warren. My family’s not that poor.”
“Since you’re so rich and all, why don’t you go back to them and find your own boyfriend?”
“Alešan!” says Panne, eyes round in shock.
“I have a boyfriend,” I say. “He’s right downstairs.”
“No, that one’s supposed to be mine. I was here first. Go find your own.”
“But you don’t love him. You only want him now to stop me from having him.”
“How do you know that? Are you reading my mind, tele-creepo?”
“I don’t need telepathy to see you aren’t capable of love.”
Alešan stares at me, body stiffening in rage. She leans over and jabs me in the chest with the pointed nail of her index finger.
“You stay out of his life, tele-creepo, hear me?”
“Tele-creepo?” asks Mrs. Lanarr, coming in through the door.
Alešan plunks down in her desk, face serene once more, having recovered her poise. “Kwan’s a telepath, Mrs. Lanarr. I heard she’s a guild fugitive.”
“Oh really?” asks Mrs. Lanarr. But her mind relays no surprise. Either she’s good at hiding surprise, or Greg has already told her.
“I’m not a fugitive. I’m a Naiskarin.”
“For who?” asks Alešan, disparagingly.
“Kajo Blue. The mystery Lightning from the paper a few weeks ago. I’m his Naiskarin. In fact, he has called me to go on a mission with him when school ends.”
“I’m so sure,” says Alešan, rolling her eyes.
“Now, now, let us not discount Kwan’s story so soon,” says Mrs. Lanarr. She studies me with renewed interest. Curiosity leaks out of her mind. It’s the first raw emotion I’ve ever received from her.
Grandfather was right. This has impressed Mrs. Lanarr.
“But Mrs. Lanarr‒”
“Allow her the benefit of a doubt, Alešan. Perhaps life needs her to do something important wherever she is going. Now let’s start tonight’s lesson with basic algebra. Ladies, if you’ll get a sheet of paper ready, I shall quiz you.”
But I find myself daydreaming during the lesson. Dreaming of a world where Mrs. Lanarr approves of me over Alešan.
School is back the next day. A group of telekinetic electricians have adjusted the system to give the blacked-out area power from the other stations on the grid. I’m told that the extra load will cause faster core burnouts across town. The damaged station needs to be fixed quickly.
Between school, sewing for my graduation outfit, and my lessons at the Lanarrs’, I’m very busy. The end of school takes me by surprise. I took on traditional Naiskarin colours for my graduation outfit, with the black dress and white satin pants. I chose red velvet for the belt, to match the crimson sun design on the chest. I even have a blue headband, the physical copy of Kajo’s halo that he uses as his mark.
In this way, my graduation dress can double as a Naiskarin’s robe. I can tell Kajo’s impressed when he sees it after school.
“You look very official,” he says.
“It’s the very least I could do for our future Namika.”
“A Namika is someone who runs a whole demesne. I’ll just be a Lightning working with what telekinetics I get.”
“I think you have more gold than the Coalition. Why don’t you declare and have done with?”
He chuckles. “You’ve hidden that gold for me, right?”
The heavy bag of gold he gave me two days ago. Auditors would find it at my parents home, so I’ve hidden it under my bed at the Lanarrs’ house. Last night Mrs. Lanarr promised me that no one would need to use my room while I was gone. Kajo’s gold should be safe there.
“It’s as hidden as I could manage. As you wanted, I gave Dave some. Kimberly had nowhere to hide it, so I still have her share. Why don’t you deposit it at a bank though?”
“That’s not minted gold. I’d have a hard time explaining to them that I made it.”
“You can make gold now? Are you kidding?”
“Let’s go. I’ll show you.”
Kajo uses his made-up gold to buy us a car. He lets me see him do it behind the salesman’s back.
It’s my first time sitting in such a fancy new convertible and I lose myself in the joy of the fresh leathery scents.
“Easy, huh,” says Kajo. “You just break up twelve nitrogens, regroup the protons, and you get one gold and some left over matter. The atmosphere has so much nitrogen, it’s like an infinite supply.”
All this pushes the limits of the year one chemistry course I was required to take. Mrs. Lanarr wants us to be able to eventually recite the names and symbols of all eighty-two elements, but I’m still stuck on neon.
“I’ve never heard of Lightnings making gold before.”
“It’s probably hidden. Otherwise gold would get devalued.”
I find that hard to believe. Pertran seemed to like gold quite a bit. I can’t imagine he would like it so much if he could make it himself.
Kajo drives us out of Hillvale and into Iceford, a small town on the border of Graal. It’s my first time here. The bus doesn’t go this far, and my family has never had reason to visit the farms out here. Hillvale looks so small from up here on the escarpment.
“Hillvale is a cement ant colony nestled in a canopy of green,” I say, causing Kajo to peer at me with a perplexed expression.
“Don’t get all metaphysical on me now,” he says as he parks.
Iceford is a crossroads town, with a population of perhaps two hundred. There’s a tiny farmer’s market in sight, along with the three cars and four carts. There are few townspeople to be seen. Likely most of them are out working in the farms at this hour.
The town’s only bar is open. I go to it to freshen up since I’ve been starting to feel all crampy since this morning. When I come back out, I find Kajo near the market, staring at a statue.
It’s no ordinary statue, I discover: it’s a petrification. A woman who once lived, and has converted herself into marble. I ask Kajo to be certain.
“Yes,” says Kajo, “That woman probably stood in this very spot when she turned herself to stone.”
“They’ve placed vegetables at her feet,” I say. “So that she might have something to eat if she comes out of it?”
“But no one has returned from petrification in a thousand years.”
The woman’s sightless eyes are turned up towards the sun. Her hair flows as if the wind caught it just before she turned to stone. I can hear thoughts from her: a desperate yearning for the sun. A unquenchable loneliness. Sadness frozen in a vast stretch of eternity.
It makes me shiver. “This is creepy. Let’s move on.”
We drive into Graal proper, but a patrol sends Kajo careening off-road to avoid them. The convertible is not designed for that kind of travel, so he uses power to carry it.
“It’s like being in a futuristic flying car, eh Kwan?”
“This is really fast.”
“Nah, just two hundred clicks per hour. What’s up? Why so green?”
Flying for the first time in my life plus the cramps, mixed in with a speed that tells me I’m about to die. If I could explain all this to him without throwing up, I would.
Only once past Graal does he slow down and fly close to the ground so I can catch my breath. We’re passing into Farrich. I’m now two entire demesnes from my home. It’s a weird feeling because I can still sense the others back home going about their lives. Kim has just finished a year-end championship ball game against the intramural rivals. Reiki is shopping for an outfit for a party tonight. Hattie whitewashes the bannister rails in front of her house.
The mind I would most like to connect with is closed to me. I’m starting to suspect that Greg has some minor telepathic blocking ability, because surely by now I should be familiar enough with his mind to reach him.
When I extend my senses forward to the demesne of Farrich. Their Naiskarin is very strong; he senses me right away. Our minds brush and form a connection.
Who are you, and why do you come?
I sense that he’s older than me. Probably about sixty, although I can’t be sure without a full rapport. He’s strong enough to reach me from all the way here at the edge of the demesne, though. It would be best to exercise caution around such a powerful mind.
In fact, you should turn around and leave. Kwan is it? I can’t believe the chronomancers predicted something right for a change.
You can see in my mind that we come peacefully. Can you tell me why the chronomancers are here?
There’s a sudden pain, and I have to dismiss the connection. I believe the Farrich Naiskarin has tried to lash out at my mind. So much for friendship and courtesy.
“There’s something they don’t want you to find over there,” I tell Kajo, pointing to the centre of town, the direction the Naiskarin’s voice came from.
“There’s a tall red light there like a spotlight. Maybe that’s it.”
I see no spotlight from town, but maybe his Lightning senses pick up something my eyes don’t.
He flies us there, at normal speeds, so it’s nightfall by the time we arrive. The city lights of Farrich glow beneath us. We’re high above the tallest building, but close enough to hear the noise of traffic and the slamming of doors. The grid of street lights is captivating. I want to stare at the people walking on the roads under those lights, but the height makes me dizzy every time I peek.
“I could do a loop-the-loop to help you overcome that airsickness,” says Kajo.
“See these nails? They’re sharp enough to claw your face off if you even try it.”
We find an ugly grey building at the centre of town. It’s stadium-sized and some five stories tall, with bright white floodlights all along the upper edge. The lights cast downward to the street, where a hundred guards roam, protecting it. I see Farrich Lightnings among the guards, as well as a number of chronomancer assassins.
The guards have been told to hold the doors against attack at all costs. Their minds form a unified thought of these instructions. So intent are they on this goal that I easily reach out to the collective thought and cool it, so the guards will never think to look up.
I feel the Naiskarin reaching out to them, counteracting my soothing thoughts. For a moment I wrestle him for control of the guards. He’s unable to overpower me, so he settles for injecting chaos into their minds.
