The Far Shores (The Central Series) (51 page)

“Are you hungry? They
put together a sort of buffet.” Haley looked at him with unaccustomed charity. “Stay
in your seat, Alex. I’ll put a plate together for you.”

Alex watched her leave
with stoned gratitude.

“That was rather well
done, Alex,” Michael offered, dropping a crumpled napkin beside the remains of
his chicken. “Considering you weren’t supposed to see any action at all, I
thought you did pretty well.”

“Thanks.”

“Grappling was a good
choice, given the Witch’s striking-oriented fighting style, but in the future I
would consider moving to meet your attacker, rather than allowing them to
choose the point at which you engage. Also, when it comes to leverage, your
legs need to...”

“Lay off him, Michael,”
Katya said, leaning back in her chair with a paper cup filled with popcorn. “Alex
has had his head kicked around enough today, if you ask me. He isn’t going to
remember anything you say, anyway.”

“Thanks,” Alex said to
Katya, repeating himself and meaning it.

“Right. Of course.”
Michael glanced away, chagrined. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.”
Alex mumbled, rubbing the raised area on the back of his head.

Haley returned with a
plate of boiled chicken, rice pilaf, and salad, then took her seat across the
table next to Min-jun. Miss Aoki sat on her other side, drinking tea and
looking restless, both arms encircled with bandages. It seemed like everyone
except Katya was finished eating. Alex picked up his fork and picked at the rice.

“Any word from the
field?” Miss Aoki held the mug of tea in both hands, and Alex could see the
bruises forming on her fingers. “Did Alice get what she needed?”

“If there isn’t anything
on the network, then you know as much as I do,” Michael said. “Interrogating a
Witch is a tricky business. For all I know, it could be hours before she
extracts anything of value.”

“Excuse me,” Haley said,
standing up hurriedly and giving them all a quick nod before disappearing
upstairs to the dorms established on the second level of the temporary command
post. Alex wanted to say something as she passed, but his foggy brain refused
to produce words.

“What’s with the girl?” Miss
Aoki asked, flicking her bloodshot eyes at Haley’s back. “Cold feet?”

“I think she just
doesn’t like hearing about torture,” Katya offered, with a crooked grin. “Unlike
some people I know.”

“What do you mean by
that?” Mitsuru’s tone took on a menacing edge. “Should I take offense?”

“Oh, heaven forbid, Miss
Aoki. I didn’t intend any personal offense.” Katya responded airily, tossing a
piece of popcorn toward her open mouth and missing. “I wouldn’t want to upset
an Auditor. Particularly not one who relies on a Black Protocol she can barely
control as a first resort.”

Mitsuru set her mug
firmly down on the table, while everyone else froze. Alex’s eyes went from one
woman’s face to the other.

“Ah, perhaps it would be
better,” Min-jun suggested conciliatorily, “if we changed the topic to the
something less...”

“No.” Miss Aoki’s voice
was icy. “I, for one, would like to hear what Katya has to say.”

“Why?” Katya tossed
another piece of popcorn, missing again. The kernel disappeared before it could
hit the ground, reappearing directly above Katya’s mouth. She paused to chew,
then smiled ingratiatingly at Miss Aoki. “It’s nothing you haven’t heard
before. I just prefer to work with professionals. As opposed to battle junkies
with cutting issues and a tendency to get their partners killed.”

“Um, Katya, it’s cool...”

“No, it most certainly
is
not
,” Miss Aoki snapped. “Perhaps we have an issue that must be
resolved, Katya?”

“Oh, you aren’t done?”
Katya set down her popcorn and folded her hands behind her head. “Almost
getting Alex killed wasn’t enough for you?”

“Alright,” Michael cut
in. “That’s enough, ladies.”

“Who are you to question
me, girl?” Mitsuru demanded. “You are nothing more than a child. And an
assassin for Martynova.”

“Oh, I know what I am.
And I’m at peace with that.” Katya smirked. “Can you say as much?”

“That is
enough
,”
Michael shouted, standing up. “I don’t want to hear another word out of either
of you.”

Miss Aoki was gripping
the edge of the table, the tips of her bruised fingers going white.

“You have some nerve,
girl,” Miss Aoki hissed, her eyes narrowing. “My patience is not infinite.”

“Immeasurably less, from
what I hear.” Katya reached down with one hand to toy with the fringe of her
plain black skirt. “You know, I’ve been watching out for Alex for months now,
through Anathema attacks and first dates, and he’s always come through in one
piece. I turn him over to you for five minutes,
Mitsuru,
and he almost
dies.”

“Katya!” Michael slammed
his hands down on the table. “Shut your mouth!”

“You know what I think?”
Katya smiled at Miss Aoki. “I think you are so fixated on blood that you don’t
much care anymore whether it’s your allies or your enemies who are doing the
bleeding.”

“I had no idea that you
were such an authority,” Mitsuru said quietly, standing and pushing her chair
back. “Do you have any further insights that you wish to share?”

“Both of you, shut the
hell up!” Michael gestured at Miss Aoki. “You come with me. Katya, I will speak
to you later.”

For a moment, it hung in
the balance – Katya smiling as if she hadn’t a care in the world, while Miss
Aoki smoldered, stock still, the air fraught with tension. Then Miss Aoki
turned on her heel and stormed off, half-led by Michael, who paused to glare
reproachfully at Katya before they disappeared into the next room, where the
communications gear was installed.

“Holy shit,” Alex said,
dropping his fork with suddenly numb fingers. “Katya, what the fuck?”

“It’s bullshit.” Katya
huffed. “I don’t blame you for not getting it, Alex. You’re a rookie. But I’ve
been doing this shit for years, just under a different name. And I don’t work
with psychopaths. That bitch is fucking reckless.”

“I think you are being
too harsh, Katya.” Min-jun frowned, obviously concerned. “Miss Aoki has had a
difficult time, but she is a very capable Operator...”

“No disrespect, oppa,
but even that’s bullshit – we’re supposed to go out in the field, and fight and
maybe die together, but we still have to talk to her like we are in grammar
school and she’s the teacher?” Katya selected a kernel of popcorn and popped it
into her mouth. “She’s insecure. She’s got a reputation, you know, and from
what I’ve seen so far, she deserves every bit of it. Besides, I’ve worked my
ass off to keep Alex alive. I resent her for almost ruining all my hard work.”

Katya reached over and
tousled Alex’s hair, while he stared at her, open-mouthed and dumbfounded.

“Nonetheless,” Min-jun
said, methodically stacking the abandoned plates and utensils. “I think you
should refrain from antagonizing Miss Aoki. She is not a woman to be trifled
with.”

“Fuck that.” Katya
tossed a kernel of popcorn for her mouth, missing. “If she can’t handle a
little needling from me, then how is she going to hold up in the field? You
want someone that insecure watching your back?”

Min-jun placed his hand
fondly on Katya’s shoulder as he walked by, carrying dishes back to the mess
hall.

“You play dangerous
games, Katya.”

Katya smiled at him.

“You know it, oppa.”

Alex shook his head.

“What? Don’t you start
with me, Alexander. Eat your dinner.”

Too tired and spacey to
argue, Alex located his fork and resumed pecking at his food. They both ate in
silence for a short time, Katya staring at the door that Michael and Miss Aoki
had walked through with an unreadable expression.

“You did do pretty well,
by the way.” Katya said, crumpling the empty paper cup and grinning at him. “Not
too many people can say they’ve fought up close to a Witch and survived the
experience. You should feel good about that.”

“Really? ’Cause I feel
terrible.”

“Don’t be a baby,” Katya
scolded. “Probably just a concussion. You’ll be fine tomorrow. Probably won’t
even have any scars. You got off light.”

Alex finished a mouthful
of chicken that was either tasteless, or that he could hardly taste.

“Hey, Katya?” Alex
asked, listlessly stirring the grains of rice around the plastic plate. “Aren’t
you worried? I mean, Miss Aoki was pissed, and Michael didn’t look too happy,
either...”

Katya laughed, propping
her elbows up on the table.

“No offense, Alex, but
you get a couple of years worth of people trying to murder you under your belt,
then you’ll understand that a couple angry teachers isn’t really much to get
worked up over. Besides, what’re they gonna do? Fire me?”

Alex considered it. It
seemed to him like a distinct possibility, but the prospect didn’t seem to
concern Katya at all.

“They’d have to fire me,
too,” Alex offered, in a sharing and expressive mood, thanks to the
painkillers. “I’m not doing this without you.”

“Aw, shut up.” Katya
slapped playfully at his shoulder, grinning at him. “Save the charm for a girl
who’ll put out for you.”

Alex set his fork down
on the plate, unable to eat any more.

“I’m serious, you know.”

“I know, dummy,” Katya
said, smiling at him. “If you’re done eating, let’s get you upstairs and put to
bed. You’re gonna need all the sleep you can get. Won’t be long before we are
back in the field.”

Alex let Katya help
guide him out of his chair in a daze of pain and narcotics. He was actually
feeling increased soreness as time went on, particularly in his whiplashed
neck.

“I’ll tell you this
much, though,” Katya said, as she helped him up the stairs. “Next time they
send you out, I’m gonna be the one keeping an eye on you.”

Alex nodded his
agreement, fighting to keep his eyes open long enough to find a place to pass
out.

***

“You are too easy on them, Michael.”

“Maybe. You might be a
little tough, lately.”

“Katya Zharova is not a
child,” Mitsuru insisted. “She’s a murderer.”

“She is both, actually.
I don’t believe those two conditions are mutually exclusive. That doesn’t change
the fact that she has a point.”

Mitsuru recoiled,
appalled.

“What?”

“Relax. She was trying
to get under your skin. To be completely honest, though, I have to admit that
Katya wasn’t completely full of shit. For one, she shouldn’t have been able to
antagonize you like that. You need to learn to shut the kids down when they get
full of themselves like that, or they will challenge you over everything.”

Then tension slowly left
Mitsuru’s stance, her shoulder’s drooping.

“I...see what you mean.”

“Look, she was wrong to
criticize your stability or professionalism. But – she wasn’t wrong about using
your Black Protocol at the drop of a hat.”

Mitsuru bristled again.

“What do you mean by
that? I am an Auditor, the same as you, Michael. You are in no position to judge
my actions.”

“Not professionally, no.
I fully understand that we are equals. But I like to think that we are friends
as well, Mitsuru. And as your friend, I have to say that with the range of abilities
that you possess, your Black Protocol shouldn’t be the first thing out of your
bag of tricks.” Michael glanced significantly at the bandages encasing
Mitsuru’s arms. “Black Protocols are operated at a price, Mitsuru.”

“You have no idea,”
Mitsuru said grimly, “what you are talking about.”

“Maybe not. What I do
know is that Alice...”

“Who uses her Black
Protocol constantly!”

“...has no other
options. And, I might add, that I wish she wouldn’t.” An unmistakable
expression of concern passed quickly over Michael’s normally cheerful features.
“In my opinion, the cost she pays is far too high. If she had an implant like
yours, I would be having the same conversation with her.” Michael cracked a
weak smile. “Just a great deal more cautiously.”

Mitsuru refused the
olive branch.

“I am not one of your
students, Michael. I do not require a lecture. Particularly not when I have
spent exponentially more time in the field than you.”

“Very true.” Michael
held up his hands in a gesture of placation. “I’m not trying to pretend to be
wiser or more experienced. I’m just trying to point out that your Black
Protocol is a nuclear option. Militaries don’t initiate conflicts by going
nuclear, Mitsuru, not unless they have no other choice. The consequences
outweigh the benefits. They use a variety of more precise and focused options,
and save the scorched earth for a last resort.”