Collision: The Alliance Series Book Three (12 page)

Turned out there was nothing else on Vey-Xanetha in the archives, though we searched thoroughly.

“So much for that,” Kay muttered, running a hand through his hair. “I can’t think of anything else… wait.” He paced down a different aisle, and I followed.

He stopped before an aisle of filed reports. “The last mission to Vey-Xanetha was twenty-five years ago,” he said, scanning the shelves. “These are general mission reports from back then. Maybe it’s here.”

There were too many newspaper clippings and reports to count in that year alone. But none we found were even vaguely relevant. Nor did they mention magic.

“Hmm. Guess it was a long shot,” he said. “Earth was barely involved. Other worlds’ Alliance branches might have more information, but we probably wouldn’t be allowed into the high-security stuff, and if it involves magic, it’ll be under lock and key.”

“Which Alliance branches?” I asked. “Not Valeria? Surely they’d let us have a look, if it’s an emergency.”

“After what happened with the Campbells and the Conners? I can’t see them letting anyone into high-security stuff for a while. Even Alliance members. Well, Conner was from Earth, and so was Campbell, a couple of generations back.”

“He was?” I blinked. “I didn’t know that. And they were linked with the Alliance, too.”

“Standard, really,” said Kay. “No one outside the Alliance will have got close enough to a potent source of magic to imagine screwing around with it. That’s why this mass outbreak is bad news.”

“Too true,” I said. “Power corrupts. Or magic.”

“Either works,” said Kay, absently scanning the files again. “This doesn’t add up, though.”

Ah.
I’d seen Kay act like this before. Once he ran into a problem, he immediately wanted to find the answer. He hated inconclusiveness. Then again, I wanted to know what could have caused a shift in the magic levels, too. I checked into the online files on my communicator, but they had only the basic information. I ran a finger along the files on the shelf, stirring a cloud of dust. Most were labelled with the same names.

“Ambassadors filed these?” I asked Kay.

“Yeah. Except the really confidential parts. Those are reserved for the council.”

“And the council won’t get involved with this mission?” I asked.

“Nah. There are only three of them here at Central, and they’re too busy reassuring everyone we’ve got this magic level situation under control and in videoconferences with the rest of the Alliance branches. Or hiding from the rabid unicorns.”

“Odd,” I said, remembering one of the absentee council members was Kay’s own father. “What do they do, sit in the office arguing all day?”

“Pretty much.” Kay shrugged. “They’re more figureheads, representatives of their homeworld. Some are permanently based offworld, but it wouldn’t be practical to have to change leadership every other week because the council members were all dead.”

“Every other week? Is that how often Ambassadors are killed?” I hadn’t seen the official job description, but that wouldn’t exactly be a winning sign-up form.

“I might have exaggerated a little.” He absently looked back at the shelves. “Depends on the mission, whether high-level magic is involved… a lot of things.”

“Wow,” I said.

“Still wanna sign up?” He gave me a half smile.

“You
were
exaggerating.” I pretended to hit him and moved out of range before he could grab my arm. “Gotcha. That wasn’t funny.”

But maybe there was some truth in there. Ambassadors
did
venture into hostile territory. A lot. Even more than guards did. An unspoken question hovered between us: his father was a council member. Offworld. Where? But I didn’t want to push Kay away by bringing up his father. I’d learned there was no quicker way to shut down a conversation.

Still, I made a mental note to check out the mortality rate for Ambassadors before I took the job.

CHAPTER SIX

ADA

Ms Weston waved me away from her office without even looking at my report. I decided to go to the training complex, where I was pretty sure Kay had gone, rather than hanging around for two hours to wait for my brother.

The training complex was two streets away from Central, surrounded by high fences to stop passersby wandering in. The Alliance-only simulators used technology from offworld, and I wondered if they’d had any difficulties since the magic levels had started fluctuating.

There was no one in the reception area so I went exploring, looking for Amanda. Probably training novices. I didn’t really feel like going into a simulator, so I wandered around the upper floor instead. There were surprisingly few people around, though the guards would still be dealing with the aftermath of the chaos in the Passages yesterday. I checked the newsfeed on my communicator again, shaking my head at the ridiculous articles popping up online about unicorns and griffins and God-knew-what-else. Probably half of them were fake memes created with Photoshop. I couldn’t help laughing at one that made claims of an offworld conspiracy to sell England to another universe, in which they managed to get the names of every Alliance world wrong. Though the scary thing was, judging by the comments, at least a handful of people actually took it seriously.

I stopped near one of the training halls, peering through the glass above the door. Kay sparred alone, striking invisible enemies with the speed and precision of an expert fighter.
Whoa.
I put my communicator away, staring. I’d seen him take down an enemy with a single strike before, of course. Not unusual for an Alliance guard, especially an Academy graduate. They were lethal by definition.

But Kay fought like if he paused for a second, he’d die. It was almost hypnotic to watch. Every single movement had a purpose. His face was the picture of intense concentration–he hadn’t seen me, though I was sure if I entered his peripheral vision, I’d become another enemy. Only one other person I knew fought with that level of focus: Nell. She’d been trained as a fighter from birth, and had used those skills to get me out of the Royals’ place on Enzar and to the shelter. She’d more or less single-handedly taken out an entire guard patrol at Central.

Right now, I was curious as to who’d win in a one-to-one fight between her and Kay. Not that I
wanted
to see it. Curiosity was my curse, all right.

Kay paused, wiping his forehead, running a hand through his hair, and I quickly shifted out of view and nearly collided with Amanda.

“Sorry.” I moved away from the door.

“No worries.” She smiled at me, not commenting on the fact I’d been blatantly ogling Kay from the sidelines. Because that wasn’t creepy at all.

“I wondered where you were.” Amanda was one of the training instructors, and the first person at Central I’d become close to–apart from Kay, of course. I wasn’t much of an expert on friendships, given I’d been doubly betrayed by two of the few people I’d called friends. Delta and Skyla. Both were dead now. And Kay and I had been responsible. The aftermath of what happened had left me a wreck, and it had taken me too long to admit it to myself. Amanda had taught me how to use the Alliance’s custom-built simulators to deal with the panic attacks I’d suffered after being kidnapped by the Campbell family. It helped to be able to talk about it with someone who didn’t think Valeria was called “Vagabondland” like a certain tabloid did.

“I’ve been around. Checking the simulators. How’ve you been, Ada?”

“Not too bad. Just got back from offworld. The magic isn’t affecting the tech here, is it?”

“No, thankfully. Apparently, this particular branch of Klathican technology isn’t affected by the magic levels.”

“There were people with implants from Klathica causing trouble in the Passages,” I said, walking alongside her down the corridor.

“Ah, that’s different, seeing as they’re internal sources.”

She didn’t know
I
had an internal source. Amanda was Ms Weston’s younger sister, so she was more aware of what was going on than most Alliance employees. But if the magic level on Earth kept climbing, how long before I was exposed for the unnatural magic-wielder I really was?

“So are the simulators,” I said. “They change your thought patterns, right? Make you think you feel pain?”

I’d been hit a few times in simulation training, and it wasn’t fun. Somehow, the sensations were exact enough to simulate actual pain, while you were hooked up to the visor. Lucky I’d not been killed in there, because that had to be a hell of a mind-trip. The pain felt real enough until you unplugged it.

“Yes, in a way. I imagine it’s different on Klathica. Their latest simulators aren’t entirely computer-controlled. They stimulate the brain so you create the virtual world yourself, using your own subconscious thoughts. It all appears real.”

“Really?” I blinked. “Damn. That sounds like something my little brother would freak out over.”

Amanda rearranged her blond ponytail. “It does have its advantages. But I can’t say I’m keen on the idea of a machine controlling my mind.”

“Ha.” I shook my head. “That’s so weird. The computer’s in control, but it’s working through people…” Like a god, magic, working through its subjects. What Mathran had said… was uncomfortably close to that. A shiver ran up my arms. “Yeah, I take it back. I think I’ll stick to real life.”

“I don’t blame you,” said Amanda.

We ended up sparring for a bit. It had been a while since I’d had a new training partner, and things were still awkward at home. Besides, I needed a friend. Even one who could kick my ass at hand-to-hand combat.

“Sorry, Ada,” she said, as I sprawled on the floor of the training room yet again.

“Dammit.” I lifted my head. “I almost got you that time. Where’d you learn to fight?”

“Danica insisted on signing me up for combat lessons when I was younger,” she said, helping me to my feet. “I never thought I’d end up teaching novices here. I always assumed I’d be going offworld.”

“What made you change your mind?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I decided Earth wasn’t so bad after all. I still have my permit. It’s nice to travel, but being stuck in meetings all the time isn’t really my thing.”

“It’s not always meetings. Sometimes a giant three-headed bird randomly dive-bombs you on the side of a mountain.” I grinned.

“Did you tell my sister about that?”

“Mentioned it,” I said.

“Are you sure you want to get involved? It sounds a little intense for a first assignment. Not that I don’t think you can handle it, but you can tell me anything.”

I nodded. It had taken me a while to adjust to not snapping at anyone who offered me help. Maybe because of Nell’s fiercely independent upbringing. But as Amanda had told me, I was far from the only Alliance employee suffering the aftereffects of the attack on Central, and admitting so wouldn’t get me blacklisted from patrols.

“I’m sure.” I checked my watch. “I should go and meet my brother.”

Turned out my timing was pretty good, as I reached the entrance hall just as Jeth came downstairs from the tech office.

“Did I hear you went
offworld?”
he asked, immediately.

“Yeah. Who told you that?”

“This Ambassador came to the tech office. Iriel?” His forehead creased with worry. Though part of me knew why he was so concerned, I couldn’t help but feel annoyed. My family knew the dangers of my new job. I hadn’t signed up just to sit in an office.

“Yeah, we went there to check out something to do with what’s happening on Earth. With magic acting up.”

“You’re okay, aren’t you? It’s dangerous out there.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know I can take care of myself.”

“Yes, but you’re my little sister. I’m supposed to worry about you.”

I gave him an abbreviated version of what had happened, concentrating on the details about Vey-Xanetha’s gods rather than the potential dangers. The evening was chilly, and I was glad of my coat—it was a total contrast to Vey-Xanetha’s tropical temperature. To Ambassadors, I wondered if all worlds were alien, even their own.

As we reached our house, I said, “I’m going out to the Blind Wyvern later.”

“With him,” said Jeth, a slight inflection in his voice. He unlocked the door.

I passed him and dropped my bag in the hallway. “Yeah, and Simon. Maybe some of the other Ambassadors. I need to revive my nonexistent social life. It’s borderline embarrassing.”

“You have me and the tech team.” He opened the door to the kitchen and threw his coat over the back of a chair.

I rolled my eyes at him. “I need one of your translator earpieces to understand your tech talk.”

“How were those, by the way? You tested them, right?”

“Yeah. I could understand every word. Kind of strange. It’s set to modern English, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t really work with idioms and local phrases, but if you speak plain English, it’ll translate. None of your half-assed gibberish.”