Remnants Read online

  “The other agents are very, very happy to see us in uniform,” I explained, my smile widening without my conscious decision as I took a seat next to my husband.

  “Ah,” Salvatore grunted in understanding. He gathered up both contracts from his desk and handed them over. “Here, you can read them through. Pay and signing bonus is what we discussed. Out of the two locations, I nixed Njorage, as Agent Chi Franklocke said, and I quote, ‘No monkeys, no problem.’”

  I stopped scanning the front page and looked up sharply. “We get to have Chi and Vee? What about Maksohm?”

  “All three,” he assured me with what might have been a shiver of a wink. “You’ll be stationed in Gargan.”

  I wanted to punch the air in victory and barely restrained myself from doing so. Be professional, be professional. “Thank you, Director.”

  “Top brass was actually glad you requested it,” Salvatore admitted, his tone indicating that he himself was among that number. “Aside from Vee and Chi, we don’t have any other agents living up that way aside from a handful of retired ones. It helps if we have you two and Maksohm up that way as well.”

  We got to live with the giants with three of my favorite people in the world. I couldn’t help but grin as I skimmed through the contract. I knew it already, I’d read through it twice before, I just needed to double check that all of the conditions I’d requested had made it in.

  They had. With no hesitation whatsoever, I put pen to paper and signed. Well, I tried to. I got halfway through and nearly wrote my maiden name. Swearing, I stopped dead mid-signature and stared at it, not sure how to turn an ‘R’ into an ‘H.’

  Bannen glanced over at me, saw the problem, and snickered. “Problem, dearest?”

  Growling in aggravation, I requested of the director, “Can you remove the signature for me? I need to re-sign it.”

  “If there’s magical tampering with the signature, the contract is invalid,” he explained, a touch amused. “Go ahead and write out your maiden name and just add Hach to the end. It’ll help our record keepers anyway.”

  A sensible solution. I could do that. I finished the signature and promised myself that on the next train ride, I’d practice writing my married name a few hundred times until it felt natural to sign.

  We actually signed two copies, one for each of us, and I folded mine to stick it in the very handy interior pocket of my jacket. As I did so, Salvatore informed us, “Agent Nora Maksohm reported that you helped with the investigation for the kidnapped familiars.”

  I hadn’t heard anything in three days and I eagerly wanted an update. “Yes, what’s happened with that?”

  “Unfortunately, a dead end. The area seemed to be a drop off, as there’s signs a boat waited nearby. The thieves boarded it very quickly and took off well before we could follow.” Salvatore made a sour face, like the words tasted rotten in his mouth. “It’s a cold trail at this point. Still, I appreciate that you readily responded to her call for aid. If you can be available for similar situations, I’d take it as a courtesy.”

  “Of course, sir,” I hastily assured him.

  “We both want that solved quickly,” Bannen tacked on in a hard voice. “It’s unnerving and morally sickening. We want them caught.”

  Salvatore gave us an understanding nod. “I thought you’d react that way. I’ve already recalled Dah’lil Maksohm from Lalani. He’ll meet us here in the next two days. Once he arrives, you’re free to head toward Gargan and set up there. You have a month and a half to settle before I need to put you on the job. The first few tasks shouldn’t be anything world-scale, as we don’t have anything truly insane happening in the world at the moment.”

  “Glad to hear it, sir,” Bannen assured him in abject relief.

  As if summoned, a knock sounded on the door and Maksohm stepped inside. His short dark hair was tousled, unusual for him, as he normally had every hair in place, skin more dusky tan than normal. He had a bright white smile on his face as he entered, dark eyes crinkling under the force of it. Normally he wore his age. I could look at him and see that he had a decade on my almost nineteen, but not in this moment. His happiness eclipsed that, making him seem more Bannen’s twenty-two. “Dah’lil! We didn’t expect you for another two days.” I rose from my chair instantly and went straight for a hug.

  Maksohm hugged me immediately back, swathing me in a coat that smelled strongly of salt and the sea. His arms were so tight that they lifted me off my toes for a moment and I didn’t mind a bit. “I might have left immediately.”

  Bannen, voice suspicious and warm with amusement, drawled, “Let me guess. You portaled yourself out of there as far as you could go, then hopped a train.”

  Letting me down again, Maksohm clasped hands with Bannen, grin irrepressible. “Maybe.”

  Chuckling, Bannen closed in for a quick hug himself. “Wow, you really hate the ocean. I didn’t know it was that bad.”

  “Worse,” Maksohm informed him deadpan. “Have you signed?”

  “We have, just now,” I confirmed. I couldn’t mistake the joy in his eyes. “Welcome to the team.”

  “I’m actually very flattered to be asked,” Maksohm admitted. “I knew you liked me, but not that much.”

  “More,” I informed him with a wink.

  “Did anyone tell you that we’ll be living in Gargan?” Bannen asked.

  Maksohm nodded confirmation, a grin of relief on his face. “They did when they called me here. Thank you for choosing something sensible and away from the sea. I much prefer mountains.”

  “So do I,” I admitted to him. Bannen had grown up near the sea and liked it fine, but he could also swim. I doggy paddled. I preferred not to doggy paddle in a body of water that had waves. “We can leave immediately for Gargan and get settled in.”

  “You only have a month and a half to do so,” Salvatore reminded all of us. “Agent Maksohm, you are officially designated as team leader. I trust you to show them the ropes.”

  Maksohm gave him a lazy salute. “Understood, sir. I didn’t get this confirmed, precisely. Do we have Chi and Vee as well?”

  “You do.”

  This news made Maksohm very happy, although he tried to keep a semi-professional bearing. “Excellent. We’ll report in when we arrive, sir.”

  “Good. Go,” Salvatore dismissed in his usual brusque fashion.

  I happily skipped out of the room, logistics already racing through my mind of how to get all the luggage up to Gargan. Maksohm no doubt knew how to get one of those Around-the-World tickets that made traveling cheaper for us.

  “Let’s go find a place for an early lunch,” Maksohm suggested, already leading the way out of Headquarters. “We can talk logistics and maybe call Vee, see if she can set up temporary accommodations so we’ll have a place to land while we house hunt up there. I understand that our assignment in Gargan will be permanent, so we might as well buy if we can.”

  “We might have to build,” Bannen disagreed thoughtfully, snagging my hand and linking our fingers so we could walk hand in hand. “Think about it. No house in Gargan’s market will be built for a puny human’s size.”

  Maksohm and I exchanged a resigned look. “He has a good point.”

  “A very good point,” Maksohm agreed sourly. “Well, we still need temporary accommodations. And Vee will likely know a good builder.”

  We’d need one.

  To say that Vee and Chi were excited would be akin to claiming the sun might be warm. Not quite the understatement of the year, but close. My wife shared their enthusiasm, and she didn’t mind sharing it. With them speaking by TMC (telemagic communicator), Maksohm holding the line open for Rena, it rather sounded like the clash of the titans—they talked over one another with such exuberance people looked at them sideways. I felt happy too, of course, that we got to keep such excellent friends as co-workers, but mostly I felt relieved. Even if I went down again, I knew those three would do everything in their power to protect
Rena.

  We spent lunch working out logistics with Vee. She swore up and down she had enough space for us in her house, and we could all stay with her and Chi until we had our own houses built. And they would need to be built. The human inhabitants in Gargan barely made up ten percent of the population. Human-sized anything was a premium. I translated that as ‘anything human is expensive, brace yourselves’ without trouble. Maybe getting all of those wedding presents would pay off sooner than I expected.

  Vee’s uncle’s brother’s cousin’s friend’s something-or-other—giants had the most complicated family relations on the planet, bar none—was the best builder in Gargan, according to Vee. She swore she’d get him on board before we came up so we could start building as soon as we bought land. I liked this idea a lot, as building a house took at least six months. I didn’t want to impose on Chi and Vee for long.

  Because we still had most of the day, Maksohm suggested we get our bags from the bed and breakfast and make the ferry trip over into Alyadar. I thought that a great idea. It took a few hours to hop over, which meant it would give us a head start in the morning when we boarded a train northbound. Rena agreed, so we went through the very fun chore of gathering all of our bags together while Maksohm bought the ferry tickets. We met at the docks, me sweating a little, as carrying two heavy bags up and down multiple hills had definitely been a workout. There hadn’t been room in the cart for all ten, so I’d sent what I could via cart down to the ferry ahead of time and carried the rest.

  Maksohm had two suitcases of his own, both about the size of Rena’s, and his eyes roved over our multiple bags with a slight eyebrow lift. “You weren’t kidding.”

  “Weddings in Z’gher are very lucrative for newlyweds,” Rena drawled. “At least until the travel fees hit. Did we have to pay any overage for extra bags?”

  “No, MISD agents never do,” Maksohm answered, perhaps a touch smug. “One of the perks of the job. Alright, shall we board?”

  I kept a sharp eye on Rena as we shuffled on board the ferry. The side railings were made of posts and ropes, tall enough that she shouldn’t easily fall overboard, but she’d recently confessed to me that she couldn’t really swim. She could float and doggy paddle, and that was about it. If I had realized that this was a problem, I would have drown-proofed her before now. No wife of mine would be uncomfortable around water. We had enough dangers in our lives to not add the common variety into the mix. As soon as we hit Gargan, I’d find a nice pond somewhere and teach her proper swimming and rescue techniques.

  The idea of getting her all wet and slippery during those lessons was just a perk.

  With all of the baggage and people loaded, the horn near the front of the ferry boat let out a low signal blast and we got underway. Alyadar was nothing more than a two-hour crossing, so I sat back and enjoyed the peace for a while. During the winter runs, the ferry enclosed the balcony area in glass and had portable barriers set out at intervals to heat it. It didn’t make it warm, but it did make the area bearable. Rena snuggled into my left side, pillowing her head on my shoulder as she relaxed and watched the waves. Maksohm sat stiffly on my right, not appreciating the ocean view one iota.

  To distract him, I asked, “Did you hear that we stopped in and checked on Toh’sellor before coming down?”

  Maksohm’s dark eyes immediately went to mine, eyebrows arched in surprise. “No, I hadn’t. What brought that on?”

  “Part excuse for us to escape from my parents’ house,” I admitted frankly, which Rena snorted at. “Part Rena wanting to check in, see what had changed over the past few months.”

  “Did anything change?” he asked in growing concern.

  “Not much,” I denied with a slight shake of the head. “A few grains of sand had drifted in, that was about it. Rena cleared it out in a blink. She thinks she can stop in, clear it up about once a year, and it won’t be an issue.”

  Maksohm let out a low breath of relief. “That sounds sensible to me. I wish we knew if taking that thing through a portal would do something to it. If it were safe enough, we’d take it to a much more secure location now rather than later. I assume you spoke to Trammel while you were up there? Did he say one way or another?”

  Rena finally decided to participate in this conversation. “He’s of the opinion that it’s theoretically possible, but he wouldn’t advise doing so. However, he did say that if I babysat it, we could move Toh’sellor through more conventional travel methods without any issue. He’s actually hoping for that, as he’s tired of trekking out there just to study Toh’sellor.”

  “I don’t blame the man. That’s not a pleasant ride,” Maksohm allowed. “And few vehicles can get in there that aren’t MISD issued and driven, which leaves him with the slower method of riding a horse in. If he’s confident about his findings, perhaps we can drag it to some secure facility.”

  “That’s what he hopes.” I didn’t know what city would agree to have that thing anywhere nearby, though. Even with the MISD guarding it.

  Maksohm turned a little in his chair, completely invested in the conversation now. “Did he figure out what it is?”

  Rena sat up slightly to answer him. “No, it doesn’t match with any element. Or if it does, it’s so warped we can’t recognize it as such. He gave me a copy of his notes before I left. I thought we could review them on the train ride. Maybe you’ll see something we’ve missed. I’ve looked at them so long that I’m cross-eyed with it.”

  “Absolutely,” Maksohm assured her, interest perking. “I’d be very interested to see—” he broke off as something vibrated in his pocket. Lifting a telemagic communicator (TMC) out, he attached it to the top of his ear so that it rested like a very elaborate and large earring. “Say again?”

  The voice responding was small, somewhat tinny, but I could just make it out over the ferry engine and the sound of the prow cutting through the waves. “Agent Maksohm, are you with Agents Hach?”

  “I am, Director,” Maksohm confirmed, his expression shifting to one of cool professionalism. “Situation?”

  “Toh’sellor has been stolen.”

  All the breath left my lungs in an icy rush. The world turned surreal for a moment as I struggled to make sense of those four words. Toh’sellor. Stolen. How in sards had they managed that? And why steal something so volatile, so uncontrollable?

  Rena abruptly left my side to perch on Maksohm’s knee, leaning in so that she could speak directly into the device as well. Maksohm accommodated her by spreading his legs a foot apart, giving her room, and keeping a hand at her back to support her. “Director, this is Rena. When was it stolen?”

  “We’re not sure on the timeline. Sometime between yesterday afternoon and this morning, when Magus Trammel went to study it. Agent Hach, I don’t need to tell you what this means or how fast I want you there, do I?”

  “No, sir,” she agreed with a hard expression. I detected worry under her anger, but my Rena looked ready to flay the thieves alive when she got her hands on them. “We’re on a ferry at the moment, but as soon as we dock, we’ll portal over there. Can you request that someone come and fetch our luggage for us?”

  “I’ll make sure it’s all safely returned to Headquarters. You are authorized to use any and all resources to track Toh’sellor down, Agents. Lethal force is also authorized.”

  “Yes, sir,” Maksohm acknowledged grimly. “I’ll contact Vee and Chi, have them meet us there. Sir, I suggest a secure facility be built or found without delay. I think the time for leisurely discussions is well past. When we get it back, I want somewhere safe to put it.”

  “Trust me, Agent, that is the next thing on my agenda. Go.”

  The connection abruptly ended and Maksohm wasted no time in calling Vee.

  Our giantess friend answered with a cheerful, “Hello, Maksohm. Have you left Foxboro yet?”

  “Vee, no time for pleasantries,” he cut in, voice clipped. “Toh’sellor has been stolen.”

 
She responded with a string of curses that even I, who grew up around sailors, felt impressed by. “When? Who?”

  “Sometime between yesterday afternoon and now. We have no idea who. Rena, Bannen, and I are stuck on a ferry for another hour and a half at least. We’ll portal over there as soon as we land. Can you and Chi go ahead of us?”

  “We’ll leave in ten minutes. Meet you there.” Vee cut the connection.

  Rena left Maksohm’s knee but couldn’t seem to settle back into her chair, choosing to stand instead with both arms crossed over her chest. She rubbed her upper arms as if chilled, but her eyes remained grey chips of flint.

  “Talk to me, Rena,” Maksohm ordered, words unhurried and calm even though the man looked anything but. The concern shadowed his eyes and I knew that on some level, this scared him half-to-death. “The barrier around Toh’sellor, how well was it holding?”

  “Perfectly,” she answered flatly. “But we both know they would have broken the shield. It was a stationary ward, not meant to be mobile. In the time it would take to break the barrier, put another around Toh’sellor, perhaps thirty seconds would pass. I estimate it could pick up a solid cup of matter in that time. Perhaps two.”

  “Not something it could be lethal with,” Maksohm muttered, mostly to himself. “Still, it would give Toh’sellor a foothold I’d rather it didn’t have. The notes from Trammel, where are they?”

  “Baggage hold at the moment,” I responded, grimacing.

  Maksohm held Rena’s eyes as he demanded, “Give me numbers. We need to estimate how Toh’sellor might grow if it fed off portal magic.”

  They fell to discussing magic at a minute level that went straight over my head. I didn’t need to understand any of it to get the gist. Portal magic plus shaky barrier around Toh’sellor equaled bad news.

  I swear a small eternity passed before we finally landed. I got off instantly, arranging with the porter at the docks to have our bags located and taken off first. The uniform sped the matter along expeditiously, which I appreciated. While I got baggage sorted, Rena and Maksohm headed for a clear spot on the beach, waiting on me. What with the weight restrictions pressing in on us, I didn’t try to actually take any of our bags, just got them tagged to return to Headquarters. I snagged Maksohm’s as well, and only when the last tag got slapped on did I turn and rush for the other two impatiently waiting for me.