Wasteland of Flint

Ctesiphon Station, Just Within Imperial Mйxica Space

This time they had docked in the Fleet section of the docking ring of the enormous station. Everything was clean and shipshape, with deckhands and loading trucks to help them haul their gear from the Palenque. Even the air was quiet and cool, without the humid cattle mob of the commercial landing. Parker, Magdalena and Bandao were waiting at the end of the lock tunnel. The pilot was puffing on a tabac with a blissful expression on his face.

"Pack-leader! You look cheerful for a change." Magdalena grinned, showing only the tiniest points of sharp white teeth. The Hesht had a truly enormous travel bag slung over her shoulder. Anderssen had not asked what was inside, but suspected some equipment listed on the Palenque manifest as "destroyed" had actually survived. Her own tool belt and z-suit gear had been replaced in the same way. The Company was notoriously bad at honoring requests for replacing equipment lost on dig or survey — which resulted in endemic pilfering by all the dig crews.

"I'm off that tub, my initial reports are done," Gretchen said, waving a cloud of tabac smoke away from her face, "and we can go someplace on station where I can buy us all real food for dinner at a real restaurant."

"Damn." Parker stubbed out his tabac. "Do you think they have steaks here? Like, real ones? I mean — you know — Maggie's probably missing food that bleeds."

He ducked away, laughing, though the Hesht's claws were only half-extended in a cub's strike.

"Maybe." Gretchen put her arm around the man's shoulder and raised her eyes to the bulkhead arching overhead, stretching out her hand toward some glorious, unimaginable future. "Maybe we can even get mashed potatoes made from…potatoes!"

"Aw, boss, you're going to make me cry." Parker rubbed his eyes. Gretchen squeezed his shoulder in sympathy. "Next you'll say something crazy like they have real butter."

"Everyone have their gear?" Gretchen looked around out of habit, making sure no one had been left behind and everyone had their baggage and shoes and hats. As she did, Bandao caught her eye and pointed down the curving platform.

Anderssen turned and a smile lit her face. Sho-sa Kosho approached, sword blade straight in a spotless white Fleet uniform. Gretchen bowed very politely as she came up. "Konnichi-wa, Kosho-sana."

"Good morning, Doctor Anderssen." The officer returned her bow. "I am glad to see you and your team together again."

Everyone else bowed politely, and even Parker had the sense to remain silent while their oyabun spoke to the Imperial officer.

"Thanks to the generous hospitality of the Fleet, Sho-sa, we are all in excellent health and spirits."

"Good." Kosho nodded to the others, then stepped aside, hand on Gretchen's elbow. With a meter of polite space between them and her subordinates, the Sho-sa's expression changed. "Chu-sa Hadeishi requests a favor," Kosho said, watching her intently. "A common acquaintance is waiting, a little ways away, and would like to speak to you again."

Gretchen frowned. "Need I guess who? Will he offer me an apology?"

"What passes for one from his mouth would not be acceptable in polite society." Kosho's calm face did not reflect the venom implied by her tone. "I will inform him you had already left when I arrived."

For a moment, Anderssen groped to speak, stunned into silence by the angry glitter exposed in the Nisei officer's eyes. After a moment, the sho-sa stepped back and settled into a pose of polite attention. The movement broke Gretchen out of her paralysis and she managed to squeak out a "No."

Clasping both hands in front of her body, Anderssen made a small bow. "I — we — are in your debt. I would be happy to speak with the chu-sa's acquaintance."

Not very far away proved to be a conference room around the corner. Kosho ushered Gretchen into the rectangular room — cold gray walls, recessed lighting, tatami mats — and closed the hatch firmly behind her. Within, Hummingbird was kneeling beside a low teak-colored table. A leather jacket worked with subdued glyphs lay over his usual civilian attire. Gretchen's attention, however, was not fixed on details of his dress, but a massive gypsum panel covering the rear wall of the room. A low-cut bas-relief showed a pair of short-bodied lions leaping at a crowned man standing in a chariot. The king held a bow raised, one arrow already lodged in the throat of the first lion. Every line of the ancient carving gleamed with meticulous, superbly carved life.

How did that get here? Gretchen was nonplussed by the sight. Then she focused on the nauallis instead of the graven slab.

The old Mйxica inclined his head in greeting, but said nothing. As usual, his face was composed and expressionless. In this clear, directionless lighting, his eyes were flat chips of jadite. In comparison, Hadeishi's face — the chu-sa was standing a polite distance away — positively gleamed with welcome, though a 3v would not have captured the warmth in his eyes.

Gretchen set down her bag, removed her shoes and watched with mild curiosity as Hadeishi made a careful circuit of the room, and then placed a small black box on the table in front of the nauallis. The Fleet captain retired to the far corner of the room and knelt with his back politely turned.

"Anderssen-tzin." Hummingbird seemed to relax, though he remained as straight-backed as ever. His mouth was tight. "I must…apologize for speaking impolitely on the ship."

Gretchen did not bother to hide her surprise and she saw Hadeishi jerk minutely. "Apology accepted."

Hummingbird nodded and the grooves beside his mouth grew deeper. Gretchen stared at him in interest. Words were trying to come out, but the old man was having a hard time giving them breath. "Is there something else?"

"Yes." The old man shifted slightly. "I would like you to come with me. Though there is no precedent for a nauallis to take a female student, the situation — "

"No." Gretchen crossed her arms. "I have already thought about this. I have no desire to become a judge or nauallis or brujo or whatever you are. You showed me a glimpse of your world — and I'll admit the thought is seductive — but I don't want to spend even more time away from my family, from my children. So thank you for the thought, but I will not go with you."

Hummingbird became entirely still. He did not blink or otherwise show surprise, but the strength of his astonishment gave the air in the room an almost electric charge. Hadeishi had given up being polite and turned away from his careful examination of the Assyrian panel, watching both of them with open interest.

The old man's teeth clicked softly. "It is very dangerous for you to go on without training."

"I guessed." Gretchen reached for her shoes. "So I'm not going to go on. If I understand all of this properly, if I do not exercise the sight then my mind will forget what to do. Long-accustomed patterns will reassert themselves."

"You'd knowingly blind yourself?" Hummingbird's bronzed skin was turning a queer pale color.

"I choose to go down a different path, Crow." Gretchen's eyes narrowed in a glare. "Your way is fraught with danger and sacrifice. I have given up enough already. I'm not going to abandon my children or the profession I love." She pointed away from him with one hand. "Seeing past a shadow on a wall for an instant does not require me to step around the screen. You shouldn't presume others will follow your path simply because it is secret."

Hummingbird was frankly speechless. Clearing his throat softly to draw their attention, Hadeishi bowed to Gretchen. His expression was very composed, but Anderssen suspected he was fairly agog himself and wondered how quickly this story would circulate through the Fleet. Perhaps never; the captain seems to be a very circumspect man.

"Thank you for your time, Doctor Anderssen. Have a safe journey."

"Thank you, Chu-sa Hadeishi."

Gretchen turned to the old Mexica, who was staring at her with growing fury radiating from his weathered old face. "Don't worry," she said, bowing to him. "Though I nearly lost my life, I regret nothing that happened there." A grin flashed. "I certainly won't forget. Good day, gentlemen. Safe journey."

"You," Hummingbird bit out, "must not leave."

Gretchen paused, one shoe on. "I am leaving. And I really don't think you can force me to be your student."

"You could…" Hummingbird's expression became particularly sour "…be placed in protective custody."

"To protect me from myself? To assuage your conscience?"

"To learn control!" Hummingbird snapped. "To be properly trained."

Gretchen shook her head, feeling a thread of anger stir in response to his pigheadedness. "As I said, I do not wish to be trained. Now, I'd guess you're worried, but not about my health. No — you're worried about my pitiful salary, aren't you?"

The nauallis's nose twitched as if a foul smell wafted on the room air.

"You think I will sell my little tale to a 3v for rude, raw gold, don't you?" Gretchen shook her head slightly in disbelief. "I told you I wouldn't. You doubt my word?"

"What about young Duncan's tutoring?" Hummingbird made a jerky motion with his hand. "I know what he means to you. Your resolve may be strong today, but in a year? What about when the girls are old enough to apply to the calmecac schools?"

There is that. Gretchen hid a sigh, thinking of her bank account. Nobility does not pay so well, but I will manage to make do. Somehow.

"Fine," she said, forcing herself to let go of that particular worry. Her chin came up and her blue eyes snapped with irritation. "Then if you're so Sister-bless concerned, the Imperial government can make good the bonus I won't get from the Company. You stole my data, you can bloody well pay for it!"

Hummingbird drew back a fraction, as if she'd slapped him in the face. "Extorting the Mirror will not…" he began in a hot tone. Hadeishi, still sitting quietly and watching them both with a quizzical expression on his face, raised both hands slowly.

"If I may offer a suggestion," the chu-sa said in a calm, collected voice, "there is a middle way."

The hatchway hissed closed behind Doctor Anderssen. Hadeishi looked sideways at the Mйxica. Hummingbird seemed stunned and disgusted at the same time.

"This matter will have to be hidden," the nauallis said, the timbre of his voice indicating what the Nisei might call fumeiyo — disgraceful shame. "No one must know."

"I understand," Hadeishi said, thanking generations of stoic tradition for the ability to keep his face from breaking into a broad grin. "The blatant misuse of your station — of your honorable position — would cause disquiet among your peers."

Hummingbird turned slightly, favoring the slim chu-sa with a withering, furious glare.

Unabashed, Hadeishi continued: "Surely no other nauallis — or any member of the Mirror, for that matter — would ever use his familial connections to influence calmecac selection, or to sponsor likely candidates for entry into university."

"You," the old Mйxica growled, "are presuming upon our acquaintance, Nisei."

Hadeishi shook his head, lips pursed. "You have rewarded her honorably. She has rendered good service — no goshi ever did better, placing her life in the way of danger to her lord — "

"Enough!" Hummingbird turned away. "She is not my tenant. She is not of my clan, nor are her children! Once I will extend the advantage of my house to aid her. Once! And no one will know."

"I understand." Hadeishi clasped both hands behind his back. "Service for service." But silently, he added So do all lords and vassals arrange their fates.

After a moment of silence, Mitsu said: "You cannot make her accompany you."

Hummingbird seemed to wake, life returning to his sharp green eyes. He glowered at the Fleet officer, hands clasped stiffly behind his back.

"This is easy for you to say, Nisei. Your traditions hold that letting go of the world is the path to enlightenment. Mine are different. I have a responsibility to my student." His head tilted toward the hatch. "She has only passed through the first door. Her will, her intent, are weak and unfocused — at any moment she could be trapped by this new clarity, she will be lost, blinded by the simple ability to see. Even if she tries to forget what happened! What will happen to her then?"

Hadeishi nodded slightly, his elfin face serious. "Anything might happen to her. She might be killed or driven insane or turn away from her path. Hummingbird, you cannot save, or protect, every single human being. That is impossible. Men die."

"Yes, that is so." Hummingbird looked away, anger fading into bitterness, his weathered old face settling into its long-accustomed mask. "Men die."

Hadeishi pointed with his head, indicating the door. "Even your student will die."

"I know this!" Hummingbird's nostrils flared.

"Do you?" Hadeishi met his eyes with an unflinching stare. "I do not think so. Not yet."