New Enemies
Chapter 62
“I wasn't always a politician, Request,” Tone White said as she poured more wine, her words askew. They were in her sedate home beside the Academy, the remnants of a good meal were scattered on Tone’s kitchen table. “Other Stations elect through elections or nepotism – Lun, most do – but the Contegons are chosen for our faithfulness and exploits. That's why being a stay-at-home is usually such a curse. And the Gravit Mountain towns are more so.”
“Except for... what was her name, Oasis?” Maya replied, not entirely sober herself.
“Oasis,” Tone replied. “And Chain Justicar. They are exceptions to the stay-at-home curse.”
Maya pursed her lips. There was no denying that Chain was a hero, might have been a candidate for Contegon Councillor after Tone White until the Hereticum. Perhaps she would be now, after her exploits in Buckle, that fight against the Disciples which many had thought an isolated incident. Lun's Burst proved how stupid they had been.
She wondered how Chain was, hoped that she and her child were happy and healthy.
Happier than Maya, anyway, who knew she wasn’t coping with Lun's Burst and Councillor Pale's death. She needed to relax. Maybe an evening with a bottle of wine and interesting company would help their investigations. With the preparations for her trip to the eastern Front, she hadn't had time to see Note or anyone socially. That could also easily explain her temper.
“Yes, Chain,” Maya said. “She might have done well, but maybe what she did at the Hereticum was for the best. Who knows?” She paused, then added, “Besides Sol, of course.”
“Aye, besides Sol,” Tone said. “He usually knows what's best for us, even if we don't.”
They each took a drink. Request chewed her lip to stop herself objecting, tearing open the rift between her and the Contegon Councillor. She started a new conversation. “Where are you from originally, Tone?”
“Me? I'm from Aureu. My mother was an Artificer, so I grew up in Blade's Birth. She was of middling skill, so we lived towards the north-eastern edge.”
“Up near the smelting warehouses?” Maya asked.
“Yes, though there was only one when I was growing up: we didn't need as much metal then, as the Shield Councillor thought that any Shield who couldn't avoid a Disciple's claws had offended Sol.” Tone paused, shook her head. “We've had some absolute morons in the Council.”
“I'll drink to that,” Request said, her voice low.
Tone considered the young Acolyte. “If I'm honest, Request, I once had the same fears and worries as you about the Council. How couldn't I, having worked with them for so long? But I believe in the structures Sol created through the First Servant. And I believe in the Guardian.”
“Things change, though,” Maya said, leaning forward. “Look at us. And the Maters. New Stations can and will be created, improve the way things work. The old structures are not sacrosanct.”
Tone shook her head. “Maybe with you Acolytes, but look how few of you there are.”
“Sol's Gift doesn't come to everyone, and it takes time to learn how to use it properly,” Maya slurred. “When I was given the Gift, it was raw and undisciplined, an urgent task to save Aureu. And I still nearly died... It's taken me years to refine my ability and all of that must be passed on to my...” Maya reached out and grabbed Request's hand. “On to my Acolytes.”
Tone was about to respond when Request asked, “You said 'maybe with you.' Does that mean that you don't believe the Maters represent progress?”
“No. If anything, they represent regression.” Tone looked into her drink. “They encourage something we need – the replenishment of our numbers following the Second Invasion – but I think they're part of a wider plan. Or a wider Revision.”
“Revision?” Request asked, looking from Tone to Maya.
“You think Lord Blind is a Revisionist?” Maya asked.
“I do,” Tone said simply.
“Sol,” Maya said, sitting back. She put her arms behind her head and breathed out slowly. “I can see it. It makes complete sense. What a bastard. No wonder he put forward the petition for another Station shortly after I moved onto the Council.”
“Can you stop talking in slang?” Request said. She didn't seem as tipsy as Maya or Tone.
Tone coughed. “Revisionists believe the First Servant put her biases onto Sol's word, influenced the Staions' hierarchy and make-up by virtue of being a woman. As evidence, they point out that there was no place for male warriors in the original Stations, despite there being one on the Cathedral. They claim the Sol Lexic should be considered a rough guide interpreted by an exceptional, but ultimately mere, woman.”
“I don't understand.” Request said. “What does being a woman matter?”
“A good question,” Maya said. “To anyone sensible, it matters none.”
“Hey, what about us Contegons?” Tone asked with a laugh. “It matters quite a lot to us.”
“So why aren't men allowed in the Contegons?” Request asked.
Tone finished her drink and placed the wine glass on the table. She was about to answer when someone else said, “Because the First Servant thought putting men in such a strong position would be bad for Geos.”
The two Acolytes and the Contegon Councillor turned to see Note standing at the kitchen doorway, another bottle of wine in one hand and a small, brown parcel in the other. Her robes were crumpled from a long day of work, and she looked like she needed a drink.
“Note! Good of you to join us,” Maya said, rising.
“Good evening, Note. Let yourself into my home, why not?” Tone said, her face and voice deadly serious for a moment. Then she laughed. “Come on, sit down.”
Request and Tone made space for Note. The Artificer Councillor sat and poured a large drink. “Gender politics,” she said. “You must have been at it for a while.”
“Not too long,” Maya said.
“Not quite long enough, I'd say,” Tone said. Note's appearance had really cheered her.
“Might I muddy the waters by saying there are more to human beings than just men and women?” Note asked as she sat. “Any Doctor will tell you that.”
Tone shook her head. “That just complicates matters.”
“Not to those born so,” Note said.
“I just don't understand any of this stuff,” Request said. “Why would putting men – in the traditional sense, Artificer Councillor – in the Contegons be bad? What's the difference?”
“Broadly? None,” Note replied, taking her first sip. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the taste. “Besides physiological differences, and those our society imposes. The problem is the border cases. Male cruelty and evil can be different to female cruelty and evil, more damaging because it encourages less cruel or evil men to march under its banner.”
Tone nodded. “The Contegons are arguably... Lun, I'll say it, we were the most holy and respected Station in Geos. We were designed to spread Sol's word and marshal his people. This was, of course, before Lun showed his hand and attacked. Anyway, the idea was that men were in such positions before the Cleansing, and had brought the world to destruction... and that women alone should have that power.”
“I'd recommend reading Lord Real's treatise on the First Servant,” Note said. “It was the first assessment of the First Servant's diary, and explains much of this.”
“I get the plan,” Request said. “Some of the male Gangers I rode with were vicious, horrible. The women could be just as bad, but it was... different. But shouldn't the First Servant have relied on Sol to prevent the worst elements getting into the Contegons?”
“No,” Tone replied, “because he barely manages that for the Stations as is.”
Request's eyes widened. Then a hint of a smile graced her face and she nodded.
Note took a deep gulp. “Well, this is all very fun, isn't it? How about I add some more water to the fire we're drowning?” She put the brown parcel on the table. About four inches tall and two wide, it was tightl
y wrapped and sealed with the Council's seal.
“What is it?” Maya asked.
“Open it.”
Maya tore the paper from the parcel. Inside was a box made from stiff paper containing a slender metal tube with two circular joints. It reminded her of a spider's leg. She plucked it up, and found it cold to the touch. Its tip was sharp and hollow.
“What am I looking at?”
Note leant on the table and knitted her fingers together. “Artificers have been combing the site of Lun's Burst for insight into what the explosive was and how it worked. We found that thing embedded in a surviving scrap of the chest. ”
Tone gestured that she wanted to inspect the item. Maya handed it over. The Contegon Councillor turned the leg over twice, and said, “That looks like Disciple technology.”
“Spot on. I guess it is the leg of a small Disciple. There were remains like this in Buckle, but they contained some agent that corroded them rapidly. Our assumption is that the explosion prevented this Disciple from destroying itself: other pieces were found in the debris which correspond to the design of those monsters, but that is the largest surviving piece. It even still had some of the poison it contained in its 'thigh.'”
“Poison?” Request asked, taking the leg for herself.
Note nodded. “Evidence suggests this Disciple was created for assassination: if you forewent your spice collection, Maya, this little horror would have ensured you did not get to the eastern Front.”
The four women all stared at the leg, imagining the Disciple it could have come from.
“Something like this could have killed Councillor Pale,” Request said.
Maya had come to the same conclusion. “How big are these things?”
“The ones which attacked Buckle were around six inches wide.”
“Easily small enough to sneak into the Bureau and deliver its payload,” Request said, seemingly accepting this furtive talk about Buckle. Maya expected she would have to explain matters tonight to her.
“Why bring this to us now?” Tone asked.
“Normally, I would present a discovery like this to the Council for their advice,” Note eyed Tone in particular as she said this, “but I am a suspect in the attempted murder of one Councillor and the successful murder of another. I did not know exactly how to proceed, but I did know I couldn't sit on this for the sakes of those at the Front.”
“Do you see now, Tone, why I feel we need more evidence on the Councillors?” Maya said. “Even, and please excuse me for this Note, the Artificer Councillor?”
Note shrugged. “I'll give you complete access to anything you ask for. I want you to get me off that damn suspect list more than ever so we can get the Shields, Contegons, and Acolytes to watch out for these damn things. Because this proves Buckle wasn't an isolated incident: more of these things are out there.”
Tone looked at the Disciple's leg again. “Perhaps we do need more access than we currently have. Note, do you really mean you'll allow my Contegons full access to your personal files and home?”
“In a heartbeat. Start now, if you want.”
“Then we will,” Tone said. “Excuse me, I'll go message my best Contegons.”
“Thank you, Note,” Maya said when the Contegon Councillor had left. “That should help our case, having one Councillor voluntarily allow us the access we need.”
“Yeah, thank you,” Request said.
“Please, don't. This isn't about me. Though I obviously have wrecked your evening. I apologise for that.”
Maya shook her head and grinned. “No. If anything, Note, you've made our evening.”