And now this. What did Zackery Trenton want? A question that became ‘what do all these people want?’ when they arrived at something which looked like a meeting room buried away in the middle of one of the wings. With them inside, there was the sound of locks engaging. Heavy locks. And the door had been a solid-looking thing rather than the usual relatively flimsy office door. What was going on?
‘You’ll be wondering what’s going on,’ Zackery said, ‘but I’d like to get introductions out of the way first. Sit down and we’ll get started. Ruben, would you please distribute some coffee? Some of us probably need it.’
As Ruben went to a coffee machine set to one side and Mitsuko and Nava took seats beside each other at the large oval conference table which took up much of the room, Zackery set about introducing the other people who were there. ‘This is Nobuyuki and Rhianna Greyling Sonkei,’ he said, indicating a couple sitting more or less opposite Nava. ‘They’re… Nobuyuki?’
Nobuyuki was a compact sort of man who set all of the alarms in Nava’s head off. He was not especially tall and his muscle was hidden beneath a very carefully cut formal suit. If she had to guess, the man could break someone in half with his bare hands and without breaking a sweat. His black hair was cut short and a little wild. His eyes were black and hard. Despite his name, there was not even a hint of Asian ancestry about him. The chances that he was a sorcerer were high, and Nava was willing to bet that he was a fairly strong one, probably with a speciality in stealth.
‘We, the Greyling family, are the clan’s trouble-shooters,’ Nobuyuki said.
Beside him, Rhianna smirked. She was a very attractive woman of indeterminate age. Her own black hair was long and formed a dark wave down her back. She had dark-brown skin and eyes and an exotic quality about her, an air of mysteriousness which her minimalist, deeply cowled microdress denied; how could you be mysterious with that much flesh on display? She had a bust which likely exceeded Melissa’s and the looks of a model, but she fitted in perfectly beside her ninja-like killer of a friend.
‘That’s an excellent description,’ she said. ‘If there’s trouble, Nobuyuki shoots it.’
‘And you?’ Nava asked. She was not entirely happy about the way Rhianna was watching her.
‘Oh, I specialise in finding out what the trouble is before Nobuyuki gets to work.’
‘Should you be explaining this here?’ Mitsuko asked. She was frowning. Nava considered that a bad sign.
‘This room is secure, Mitsuko,’ Zackery said. ‘You know that.’
‘Yes, but–’
‘And Nava Ward is here as your bodyguard. She needs to know a few things to make the rest of this discussion worthwhile.’
‘We have checked into Nava Ward’s background,’ Rhianna said. ‘We’re quite happy that she can be trusted with the information we’re prepared to reveal. You’ll recall that she’s on a military scholarship. The ASF is quite sure of her… capacity to compartmentalise.’
Mitsuko sagged. ‘Fine. This is what I hate about Greylings. You people are always more cryptic than a crossword puzzle.’
‘And finally,’ Zackery went on, ‘we have Hyrum Himura Sonkei.’
‘I’m the administrative liaison between the ASF and the Clan Council regarding terrorism,’ Hyrum said. He looked like a man who was used to being in charge, used to being frustrated, and rather world-weary. He had to be at least forty, but beyond that it was hard to tell because he also looked wealthy enough to hold off age as much as he wished. Dark hair cut short, hazel eyes, not really handsome but not ugly either… Hyrum Himura looked like a civil servant.
The reason for the meeting came together in Nava’s head. The same reasoning had obviously occurred to Mitsuko. ‘So,’ the Trenton daughter said, ‘this is about the attacks at the school and the possibility that the Redwing Faction are involved. You got me here under false pretences, Father. “It’s just a family gathering, but it would be good if you could attend. Michiko is missing you.” That’s what you said.’ Her eyes widened. ‘Is this why it was so easy to get an invitation for Nava?’
Zackery waved the objections away. ‘I would want to meet anyone my daughter trusted enough to make them a bodyguard. Don’t be so dramatic, Suki.’
‘We had to deal with Uncle Spencer. I think that’s worth a little drama.’
‘She has a point, Father,’ Ruben said. With the coffee handed out, he was taking a seat beside Zackery – who had the head of the table – and opposite Hyrum.
‘Hm,’ Zackery said, more or less conceding the point. ‘Let’s get started. Ruben got a briefing from the ASF and knows their viewpoint. He’ll be representing them here. We all know the circumstances but to summarise: there have been a number of attacks on the candidates for student president at SAS-squared, two of them fatal. The methods used in some of these attacks suggest that a Redwing Faction operative is behind them, though the exact motive is unclear.’
‘If the Redwings are behind this,’ Hyrum said, ‘there’s an obvious political issue since the Clan Council issued a statement to the effect that the Redwing Faction was effectively
