The Winter War (42 page)

Authors: Niall Teasdale

Tags: #robot, #alien, #cyborg, #artificial inteligence, #aneka jansen

Winter grinned back. ‘If the
outfit wasn’t a clue...’ She was dressed in a bikini bra with a
fishnet top over it, a micro-skirt, and some wedge-heeled trainers.
Now she affected a vaguely blank expression and her voice shifted
to more of a drawl. ‘When I’m not talking to quingren, I’m a lot
more fridgy.’ She giggled. Aneka cringed.

‘Anyway, it wasn’t a conclusion,
it was a thought. I needed to know it wasn’t you.’

‘So,’ Ella said, walking over
with drinks, ‘it wasn’t you, Winter, but you seem to think it
wasn’t the Knights. Aneka’s of the same opinion.’

‘It could be,’ Winter replied,
her accent shifting back to normal, ‘but I find it unlikely.’

‘Too sophisticated for them,’
Aneka said. ‘Smuggling that laser in past the weapons detectors
needed some planning.’

‘Indeed. That leaves us with the
Herosians themselves,’ Winter stated.

‘Huh?’ Ella looked blankly at
her. ‘The guy shot at D’Jarnis.’

‘And probably would have gone on
to attack Aneka. She said a few nights ago that she was not
designed to withstand laser fire.’

‘I was lucky, he was a crap shot
and he was using a holdout weapon. If he’d had something more
powerful…’

‘They only knew what you had
told them. What I don’t think they anticipated was you jumping in
front of the shot. If D’Jarnis had died, or even been severely
injured, then there’s a political incident they could use for
leverage. D’Jarnis is a pawn and always has been. The Herosians
don’t post anyone they
like
to New Earth. He’s unmated and
his chances of finding a suitable female here are next to nil. No,
his death would serve more purpose than his life has.’

‘But I saved him,’ Aneka said.
‘It was reflex. I obviously didn’t give it any thought or I’d have
been a second late.’

Winter laughed. ‘You did the
right thing. Preliminary polls say that your approval rating has
skyrocketed. Polls among the Herosian population in-system have
actually shown a positive reaction. You took a laser hit for
someone you have absolutely no reason to like. The Jenlay think
that’s heroic and the Herosians find it hard to believe that a
Xinti would save one of their own from a head cold, never mind an
assassin.’

Aneka sighed and sat back on the
couch. ‘I should really thank the guy for saving me from any more
stupid questions. Maybe when they interrogate him they’ll get some
information about who sent him.’

~~~

‘He’s dead,’ Sharissa said. ‘So are the
two you knocked into submission when they hit Elaine.’ She was
keeping her voice low so that the conversation did not disturb Ella
and Janna who were cooking in the small kitchen.

‘How?’

‘The first two were poisoned in
hospital. The one from last night was found dead in his cell this
morning. So far there are no clues about how they were got to. The
Peacekeepers are dealing with it.’

‘Not the Agency?’

‘They died in Peacekeeper
custody…’

Aneka felt fingers stroke over
the skin on the back of her neck and turned to see Janna standing
there, smiling. ‘Not a mark,’ she said. ‘Quite amazing. I saw it
live, of course. I was so worried.’

‘I’m well up to handling a
weapon like that, Janna.’

‘So I see. Now you two stop
talking shop. We’re supposed to be having a nice, family meal.’

‘I think we’re done anyway,’
Sharissa said. ‘Now hands off Ella’s blonde. You’ve got me to feel
up if you want to do that.’

Janna smiled. ‘Is that an
offer?’

‘After dinner,’ Sharissa
replied. ‘I’m famished.’

16.10.527 FSC.

CFM’s evening news was on the wall
screen and Aneka was watching it, still looking mildly shocked.

‘…was delivered to Miss Jansen
by Senator Diana Ollander on behalf of the Herosian Ambassador who
is said to be too shocked to make public appearances at this
time.’

Aneka looked down at the sheet
of bio-plastic in her hand. It had, indeed, been delivered by
Ollander, who had worn a grin of malicious glee the entire time the
cameras had been off her. The letter, actually printed on a
permanent medium and signed, physically and digitally, was an
official thank you from D’Jarnis and the Herosian Diplomatic
Service for saving the Ambassador’s life.

‘Can you imagine what it cost
him to sign that?’ Ollander had said.

‘I notice he didn’t deliver it
himself,’ Ella had commented.

‘Apparently he’s in a state of
shock after the attack.’ The Senator had looked Ella up and down
and added, ‘You must both come to my place in The Islands. My boys
would love to meet you.’

Yeah… right…

‘The letter of apology comes
ahead of tomorrow’s vote in the Senate,’ the presenter went on,
‘which could reassign Miss Jansen’s status from Jenlay citizen to
artificial intelligence.’

‘You notice they don’t mention
you’d still be a citizen,’ Ella commented as she walked over with
drinks.

‘I noticed. Not sure what it
means, but I noticed.’

‘Speculation regarding the
effect Miss Jansen’s selfless act will have on the vote is running
rife on private news sites. A petition has been launched on the
Trudor Federal Breakers site for the public to express their
opinion that the vote should go against a change of status. As of
sixteen hundred hours, the petition had thirty-seven million
signatures.’

‘That’s more than the population
of the planet,’ Aneka commented, turning off the sound.

‘Well, I signed it a few million
times,’ Ella replied, giggling.

‘You didn’t.’

‘Well no, you can’t, but I did
flick over the signatories list. There are a lot of names on it
from Harriamon and several of the closer worlds. And quite a few
from naval ship crews. It’s been open for a few weeks.’

‘Oh… It’s, uh, nice to be
appreciated.’

‘You’re a hero, love,’ Ella
said. ‘Live with it.’

Tristar Township, 18.10.527 FSC.

‘One of those “toasts,”’ Drake said,
raising his glass. ‘To Aneka, who remains a Jenlay.’

It had taken a day for the
result of the Senate vote to come through but the debate had been a
short one. The vote had been taken after an hour of speeches; one
of the shortest discussions of a controversial subject ever. The
news channel pundits had suggested that this was more the result of
entrenched positions than anything else. There had been a few
surprises, with several of the Representatives from Herosian border
worlds voting against the proposition. Even without them, the
change of status would have been vetoed since the Jenlay and Torem
all voted against.

Aneka smiled. ‘Thanks, all of
you, and it’s nice to be with
all
of you again.’ It was a
full house. Janna, Sharissa, Cassandra, and Abraham Wallace were
there, as well as the Garnet Hyde’s crew. Truelove had said she
would drop by when she got out of the office, and that meant Janine
would be joining them. ‘So what happens next?’

‘Back to work,’ Bashford
replied.

‘The Dean actually stood up to
the board before the vote result came through,’ Gillian added. ‘He
told them you were a valuable resource for the university to have,
in whatever form the Senate decided to give you. I think the fact
that you saved D’Jarnis on a live news feed helped with his
courage, but still…’

‘I’ll have to remember to thank
him,’ Aneka replied. ‘Any plans on what I’m going to be doing?’

‘We’re taking a class into the
Shadri Forest in three weeks,’ Monkey said, ‘and you’re the one
with the most jungle survival training.’

‘You’ve actually been
trained
in it,’ Delta added.

‘So you’re leading,’ Bashford
told her. ‘It’s a two-week familiarisation exercise, not a full
course.’

‘Swell,’ Aneka replied. ‘Two
weeks of mud everywhere and bugs crawling in all the cracks.’

‘After what’s happened
recently,’ Ella said, ‘all this political gopi, I’d have thought
you’d have jumped at it?’

Aneka looked at her for a second
and then grinned, raising her glass. ‘Bring on the mud!’

###

About the Author

I was born in the vicinity of Hadrian's
Wall so perhaps a bit of history rubbed off. Ancient history
obviously, and border history, right on the edge of the Empire. I
always preferred the Dark Ages anyway; there’s so much more room
for imagination when people aren’t writing down every last detail.
So my idea of a good fantasy novel involved dirt and leather, not
shining plate armour and Hollywood-medieval manners. The same
applies to my sci-fi, really; I prefer gritty over shiny.

Oddly, then, one of the first
fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan
Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we
would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and
looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of
modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit
popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of
course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could
actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales.
In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially
because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north
around Tywyn.

I got into writing through
roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of
roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote science fiction when
I was playing
Traveller.
I wrote “high fantasy” when I was
playing
Dungeons & Dragons
. I wrote a lot of superhero
fiction when I was playing
City of Heroes
. I still love the
idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to
write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of
expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the
aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories,
as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.

Writing, sadly, is not my main
source of income. By day, I’m a computer programmer. I work for a
telecommunications company in Manchester, England. My favourite
authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, and (recently) Kim
Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to
publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan,
back in school, several decades ago.

For More Information

The
Thaumatology
Blog:
http://thaumatology.wordpress.com

The
Steel Beneath the Skin
Blog:
http://steelbeneaththeskin.wordpress.com

Other Books by this Author

The
Thaumatology
Series

Thaumatology 101 -
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/93217

Demon’s Moon -
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/102265

Legacy -
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/116370

Dragon’s Blood -
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/127324

Disturbia -
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/138316

Hammer of Witches -
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/156491

Eagle’s Shadow -
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/174874