Hakusan Angel (7 page)

"You know what's going on?"

"They may have hired us for our piloting abilities, but we're not stupid," Matsura scoffed, finding a plush seat and falling into it. "Level 1 Pilot is taken away, massive power outages followed by a sinkhole that destroyed our bar? Easy enough to figure out:  one of those sources was a Level 1."

Mari found herself nodding, impressed. Here she'd thought she'd have to explain everything, but they already knew. Now all she had to do was try to persuade them to keep their mouths shut about that information.

"So, if I told you the higher-ups wanted you to keep quiet, would you be okay with that?" Mari asked, surveying her fellows, who had all settled onto couches and lounge chairs while she'd been listening to Matsura.

Matsura sighed and shook his head. "I think it's a bit too late to try and keep the secret. The Level 2 Sources have been up in arms all week and have been digging around looking for an explanation. If we figured it out, I'm sure they have too. We all know how good sources are at keeping gossip behind their teeth."

"Really, why don't you enlighten us?" a voice came from the doorway.

Mari's head whipped up, and her eyes found Kaede's from across the room. Kaede was looking around their chambers at the assembled pilots with an air of disdain, eyes coldly dismissing them. Her pilots all sat up, bristling at the intrusion into the conversation.

"If we sources are so terrible at keeping secrets, then why are you hosting all these pilots and letting them in on it?" Kaede continued. "Also, these are our shared quarters. You should have asked me before you invited them over."

"Sano said that I could bring them over," Mari argued, hands clenching. "I don't need your permission for anything, you know."

"If you can have the pilots over, well then I should be afforded the same courtesies," Kaede snapped, glaring.

"You shouldn't be afforded
any
courtesies after what you did," Mari shot back, teeth grinding hard enough that her jaw ached.

She couldn't believe it. Kaede was still acting as if she was above everything, even after the disaster with
Hakusan
. Mari could admit that yes, maybe she had made a mistake, but Kaede had also been partly to blame. In the back of her head, Mari knew she hadn't forgiven Kaede for hiding her power either.

Kaede didn't say anything, but the pilots around her flinched at her words. Kaede turned and left, as quiet as a ghost. Mari stared after her in surprise.

"A bit harsh, don't you think, Mari?" Matsura ventured to say.

"She deserves it," Mari waved her arms. "She betrayed the country by hiding her powers and not coming forward. She put us in danger with all those power failures. Come on, she's a source! You shouldn't feel sorry for her because she can't take advantage of the system anymore."

"Mari, you're basically saying that because she made her own choices and one mistake, that she should be treated like a slave of the military for the rest of her life," Matsura said quietly.

"What? No I'm not." That hadn't been what she meant at all. She just wanted Kaede to face the consequences of her actions. Was that too much to ask?

"You just said that she doesn't deserve to have rights."

"No, I ..." Mari desperately reviewed her previous words.

"Everyone deserves rights. Even sources. Even sources who you don't agree with."

Mari couldn't believe it. Matsura was usually so carefree that it surprised her every time he talked about something serious. Questioning morality was the kind of thing he usually avoided, especially if it brought him in confrontation with her.

"Do you all agree?" she asked the rest of the pilots helplessly.

They looked between themselves and shrugged.

"It's just that ..." One of the younger pilots said hesitantly. "Usually you don't say things like this. We look up to you because you try and do the right thing. We're not sure that what you're saying is. What made you change your mind?"

"I met Nomura, who is selfish beyond reason," Mari defended, uncertain of her stance, but not wanting to admit out loud that she had gone too far.

"Is she really, or do you just not understand her?" another new voice interrupted the conversation.

It was the source who had started the fight with her, Sae. She was standing in front of the open doors, back straight and chin raised. As she stood there, the rest of the sources filed in, arraying themselves on either side of her in a crane's wing formation. Kaede entered last and came to stand by Sae, shoulder to shoulder. They looked serene and immovable in their summer yukata.

The pilots all stood as one, warily watching the sources. They obviously remembered what happened the last time someone had riled them up and were looking to avoid a repeat. They looked suddenly unsure now that they were faced with actual sources, who Mari knew were often contrary just for the sake of disagreeing.

"How did you all get up here?" Mari asked sharply.

"It's not as if we would let our sister face off against all of you by herself. As soon as we realized where you were going, we demanded to see Kaede, and Sano could not disagree. Even he is not that unfair."

There was a long, tense silence as the sources and pilots looked between each other, eying up the other side.

"So," Sae began. "Maybe now we can have a long-needed discussion and finally come to some sort of agreement?"

The sources all tilted their heads down in a brief, somehow coordinated nod and settled into seats. The pilots slowly retook their own and waited.

It was time to talk.

Kaede hadn't been certain where exactly she was going to go after she'd fled her own chambers upon discovering it was overrun by hostile pilots. Going back to the medical bay wasn't really an option, but there wasn't anything else on this floor. The guards would probably stop her if she tried to take the elevator down.

She was standing alone in the cold hallway when the elevator light flicked on, indicating it was in use. She looked around, but the hall was completely empty. There were no doors or alcoves, just the flat grey of dull metal that barely reflected her face back at her. There was nowhere to hide and wait for whomever it was to go by.

She was still standing there, rooted to the spot when the doors opened.

"Kaede?"

Kaede couldn't believe her eyes. "Sae?"

Sae stepped swiftly out of the elevator, and she was followed by what looked like most of the Level 3 Sources.

"How did you get here?" Kaede had given up on being allowed to see any of her friends indefinitely, so it was a shock to see them here in front of her without any warning.

Sae smiled. "Did you think that we would just abandon you? We knew what had happened immediately. They questioned me about the incident. I was obviously not the Level 1 Source they were looking for, so it had to be you."

Kaede looked down at her toes peeking out from the hem of her yukata. "They're blaming me for everything, because I didn't tell them I was a Level 1."

Sae stepped forward and awkwardly put her arms around Kaede's shoulders. Displays of affection were not that common among sources, but Kaede appreciated the gesture, all the same. She allowed her forehead to rest against Sae's silk-clad shoulder and breathed in her lavender and rainwater scent.

"I'm sorry," Sae said softly against her ear. "I am also to blame for what happened. Are they ... are they treating you well?"

Kaede didn't answer and Sae's fingers tightened on her shoulders. She didn't need words; Sae knew how the military treated sources.

They returned to the room, and Kaede could only stand there in a daze as Sae took control of the situation and started up a conference right there in Kaede and Mariko's shared suite.

Sae pulled Kaede to the front to sit next to her, closest to the pilots arrayed across from them. She leaned forward so she could speak quietly in her ear, "I know you're not the type to want to talk or disagree with the pilots or make a big production, but this is about you. So please, I need your input."

Kaede nodded. She knew she had a problem with expressing her complaints to the person they concerned, but Sae was right this time. Maybe now they could find a way to reconcile themselves with their counterparts.

"Right," one of Mariko's friends said, scratching a hand through bright orange hair. "If we have to discuss this, I feel that we should be able to have a drink at the same time. No way I'm getting through this conversation without some help."

"That's true," Sae said, shrugging apologetically and looking at Kaede. "You destroyed the bar and now there's nowhere for us all to unwind."

"No problem," Mariko piped up from her perch on top of what looked like an in-suite bar. "I was bored, so I insisted on making them stock up on everything."

"Planning on drinking it all yourself, Ishigaki?" laughed her orange-headed friend.

Mariko ducked her head, "Well, you know I wanted you to come visit, so I had it done in the hopes you'd be allowed one day. And here you are."

"So I suppose it's all beer, is it?" Sae rolled her eyes. "Pilots."

"No actually." Kaede was surprised to see Mariko's face flush. "I thought that Kaede might like it if you visited, so I had them bring some of everything."

Kaede didn't know what to say to that. Mariko was a constant contradiction! One moment she was saying disparaging things to or about Kaede and the next she would do something to belie those same words. She watched in fascination as the orange-haired pilot manned the bar and started passing out drinks. Someone passed her a glass of wine and she took it automatically.

"This is a problem for all of us," Sae said as everyone settled again, this time with drink in hand. "For a long time now, there has been a rift between source and pilot. It would be in our best interest to reconcile, and yet, we remain cautious of each other."

"When did it start?" Mariko's orange-haired friend spoke up.

"Matsura's right," Mariko said. "I don't remember a time when we've
not
been at odds."

"It's as if it's a part of military culture. It seems like it's an ingrained habit," Kaede said into the ensuing silence as everyone thought on the oddity of their rift.

"Is it like this everywhere? Is it like this in Morwe?" Matsura asked, prickly brows drawn down.

"What's more, why hasn't High Command tried to intervene?" Mariko added, looking around the room for support. "You would think that it would be best for everyone to be on the same page. It would be a more efficient environment, not to mention an easier one to exist in."

"Okay, let's try to sort this out then," Sae spread her arms, gesturing, like a conductor leading an orchestra. "Why do pilots dislike sources so much?"

The rush of answers was sudden, and they were nothing that Kaede hadn't heard before. She heard all the stereotypes repeated, and they came easily to the pilots' mouths. They said that sources were cold, aloof, and that all that mattered to a source was money and benefits. Sources were manipulative and condescending, but the only thing that was valuable about them was what they were and not anything under their control. The list was seemingly endless.

"Stop!" Kaede's voice rang out more loudly than it ever had before. "What I want to know is, how many of you wanted to be pilots when you were choosing a career? Did you want to join the military? Come on, raise your hands."

Confused, the majority of the pilots did so, looking between each other questioningly.

Kaede turned back to her fellow sources and said, more quietly, "Now you. How many of you wanted to be sources?"

Two girls calmly raised their hands, seemingly not at all disturbed over the lack of response from their comrades.

"I wanted to be an artist," Sae volunteered the information.

"A scientist."

"A teacher."

"A lawyer."

Kaede held up her hands again. "All right. What age were you when you were first approached by the military to be recruited?"

"Sixteen," Sae answered, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"What did they offer you to finally make you agree to the terms?" Kaede continued the questioning.

"My grandfather needed medical treatment."

"My sister's education."

"My family was in debt."

"My father's rival company was about to take us over."

"How many of you are scared of what the consequences of leaving the military would be?" Kaede closed her eyes, remembering her own family, who were barely in contact with her.

"Ever since the conflict with Morwe, any high level source not with the military has had an impossible time finding a job anywhere else," Sae replied, her voice tired. "My aunt was a source, too. No one wanted to hire her, not when she was in the database as a known Level 3."

"Why don't you like pilots?"

Thus followed another barrage, this time filled with pilot stereotypes. Kaede looked across the floor to Mariko and Matsura and raised her eyebrows. The ball was in their court now. She was willing to concede that if the pilots had misconceptions about sources, the same could be true in reverse. Kaede waited anxiously, and hoped that somehow they could all reach an agreement.

*~*~*

Mari caught on to Kaede's tactic right away, watching with interest as she poked holes in all of the stereotypes aimed against her. She and Matsura shared a glance between them, and Matsura pointedly raised an eyebrow. She knew what he was saying. It was all right, though, Mari had no problem with admitting she was wrong, especially with the evidence right in her face.

She couldn't quite believe the sources were telling the truth. Surely the military that had treated her and her fellows so well wasn't abusing their comrades-in-arms? For all that she wasn't sure about sources, they did work together. They were on the same side.

Strange then, how it was almost as if they weren't.

When Kaede closed her end of the discussion, Mari took her place.

"Why did you want to be a pilot?" she asked her side of the room.

Matsura answered immediately, without a single thought. "I wanted to help people."