“This is what you wanted help with?”
Shane lifted the thin, lightweight package with two fingers before tossing it to Jeb, who caught it instinctively with a sheepish smile.
“Usually her packages are a lot bigger.” Jeb tested its weight, crinkling his nose. “Sorry for wasting your time.”
Shane rolled his neck and shoulders, casually stretching his arms before grabbing a handcart overloaded with boxes. “Not a waste. These are for the lab, too. You can join me, if you like. I don’t mind the company.”
Found another friend to murder later, did you?
“If you don’t mind…?” Jeb sounded unsure.
“You can get the doors.”
Without waiting for an answer, Shane set off with the cart, leaving Jeb to rush after.
Shane spent the walk listening to Jeb’s tales from the biology lab, of student projects gone awry and fantastical genetically altered hybrids which didn’t always behave as expected. The necromancer gracefully sidestepped Jeb’s occasional attempts to probe about his own past experiences, limiting answers to his and Jake’s life upon moving to Baden two years prior.
For his part, Jeb also seemed uninterested in talking about anything outside of teaching, aside from mentioning his distaste for war and commitment to pacifism. Whether he also hid a secret, or had simply built his entire life around the school and the safety of its students, Shane couldn’t say.
Not that it mattered. Jeb was welcome to his secrets; Shane had enough of his own to worry about. But he had finally found somewhere to settle and raise his orphaned son, away from the constant wars devouring the universe and the people most likely to uncover his own dark past. He wasn’t about to give that up.
Baden was everything Shane had hoped for in a planet, when it came to raising Jake. A thriving, independent jewel just outside the edge of Sparnell Confederation space, Baden was known as a safe haven for many refugees. Two more wouldn’t draw attention.
He still cursed his poor monetary choices upon their initial arrival, but with all the time he’d spent on deployment he’d never been the one to handle finances, and asking Jake’s advice had merely compounded the error. At least he’d had the foresight to purchase housing before the savings were gone, a cozy single home with a few too many rooms in a rundown but welcoming neighborhood. It was a lengthy commute to the school for most people, but merely a step for a Hyperjumping necromancer and his adopted son.
“Oh, look!” Jeb exclaimed while opening the door to Razick’s lab, interrupting Shane’s thoughts. “Speaking of your son, here he is.”
Shane scowled as he wheeled the handcart into the lab. “Jake. You’re supposed to be in class.”
Jake grinned at his voice, rushing over to raise a crumpled paper for his inspection.
“Headmaster Corbin said I could take better classes if you say it’s okay. Can I? Please?”
“I’ll sign the paperwork today,” Shane promised, scowling. While it was nice to see the boy’s elation at the recognition of his accomplishments, there were more pressing matters to resolve. “What are you doing out of class?”
“I’m helping Razick. Headmaster said I could. Did you bring her package?”
Jeb’s face slowly dawned recognition of why they’d traveled to the lab in the first place. “Ooooh. Yes.”
The biologist held out the package, a cheerful lilt to his voice. “Razick! Your favorite brother brought you a present!”
The human lab tech emerged from her office, her side-bound ponytail of unruly red hair a stark contrast to her otherwise impeccable appearance. She moved with an overwhelming aura of confidence despite her shorter stature.
When she turned her attention to Shane he felt her melancholic green eyes sizing him up, her fair freckled face a mask he suspected could easily hide a sorrow as deep as his own. A moment later she graced him with a cool nod before delicately retrieving her brother’s offering, motioning for Jake to follow.
Shane watched as the boy bounded after her, his face betraying his joy at the invitation to assist in her scientific research.
He turned to his companion. “She doesn’t talk much, does she?”
From what Jake had told him, Shane guessed the trauma ran deep.
Jeb looked away. “She’s seen things nobody should ever have to see.”
Maybe she’s met you before, Grim. Look familiar? Or have all your victims started to blend together by now?
Shane shook away the needling voice of his former friend, to instead focus on the teacher beside him. “Think she’d mind if we watched, too?”
Jeb shoved his hands in his pockets, bouncing slightly on his toes. “She didn’t kick us out, and she’s got your son with her, so I’m sure it’d be fine?”
“Coooooooool! What else can it do?”
Jake’s voice cut into their conversation, from deeper within the lab, and Shane turned to follow, Jeb on his heels. Knocking politely on the door he nodded acknowledgement of her brief smile of welcome and strode to take a place behind his son.
“What are you working on?” he asked Jake.
“She’s inventing armor!” Jake announced, his attention fixated on Razick’s demonstration.
Shane watched as the lab tech clamped a pair of wires from an Electromancy generator onto a thick square of cloth. Formerly pliable, the fabric immediately stiffened at the shock. She offered Jake a sharp rubber-handled scalpel, motioning toward the square. The preteen wasted no time in attempting to cut the material, scraping and jabbing the sharp tool against the fabric, to no avail. Grinning triumphantly, she disconnected the generator and watched as Jake gleefully carved the fabric into strips.
She offered one of the strips to Shane and he accepted, rubbing his fingers across its surface. While several times thicker than normal clothing, the material was still comfortably pliable, although it left a slightly oily texture on his fingertips.
He narrowed his eyes, the demonstration tugging on an old memory. “Tyrellium?” The magic-conducting metal found common use in a variety of technologies. If his assumptions were correct, she’d found a way to convert the energy from Electromancy currents into some form of physical Shielding.
Her smile widened as she nodded, confirming his suspicions.
Shane’s attention wandered around the private office, taking in the shelving full of materials and meticulously labeled projects. “What’s in the package?”
She motioned him toward a small tank of silver tinted oil tucked onto a shelf, pulling it out to reveal a bundle of dark colored fabric soaking within. Poking it carefully to ensure the oil had been absorbed into each section of the material, she removed it from the vat to dry on a specially constructed rack. As she spread the fabric across the bars, Shane realized it was a long-sleeved undershirt with a matching pair of trousers.
“You’re ready for trials, then?” Jeb’s words held pride.
She nodded, poking her brother in the chest with a mischievous smile.
“I know, I know. I haven’t forgotten my promise. When you’re ready, I’ll be your test subject.”
Shane’s curiosity was piqued. “Are you working on anything else like this?”
Razick frowned, studying him again before pulling out a sharply cut suit of rich black fabric. She offered it to Shane, allowing him to feel the thick yet comfortable material before handing him the jacket with a motion mimicking him holding it taut in front of him.
Shrugging, he did as she directed, staggering backward at the unexpected force of an elemental arrow crashing into the suit from a crossbow he hadn’t noticed her holding before. The arrow caught briefly in the suit before clattering to the ground. Shane probed the area of its impact, but the fibers remained intact. Letting out an appreciative whistle, he rubbed the side of his neck as he returned the jacket.
She eyed him intently, clearly waiting on his response.
“This is Sparnell technology,” he said at last. “Their reinforced fabrics. You’ve recreated them.”
It was a cruder application than that used by the Sparnell Armed Forces, with less mobility, but the implications were clear, nonetheless. The thought of facing SAF battle mages struck fear into the hearts of most citizens of the unaligned Freehold planets. With Razick’s invention, Baden’s defensive forces might actually stand a chance against the SAF’s ground strike teams, when the Sparnell Confederation’s leadership inevitably reached to claim the planet.
Nodding solemnly, Razick pointed up.
“You’re right,” he agreed. “We’re on the edge of their space. It’s only a matter of time.”
The school alarms sounded, as if on cue, followed by the warning lights flashing a repeating pattern of three blinks in quick succession.
“Nobody told me there was an aerial bombardment drill scheduled today,” Shane growled, glaring at Jeb.
The biologist’s face was grim. “There wasn’t.”
Shane felt the familiar crackle of a high powered Shield snapping into place, likely Baden’s planetary defenses charging to full capacity. He cast his own Shielding spell out of habit and grunted approval as he felt Jake do the same.
“To the vault,” he ordered, automatically reverting to his command training. “We’ll assess once everyone is safe.”
Razick quickly retrieved both sets of experimental armors, and Shane was surprised to see the oiled undersuit had already stopped dripping – but there was no time to wonder about her specialty drying rack.
Shane directed Jake to the hallway before turning to Jeb. “We’ll sweep the classrooms on the way. You take the left, we’ll do the right.”
He paused briefly for Jeb’s acknowledging nod before storming down the hallway toward the vault, herding his charges toward safety.
