Freedom, Humanity, and Other Delusions (Death's Handmaiden Book 3), Niall Teasdale [crime books to read .TXT] 📗

wearing a swimsuit which barely deserved the name and a lot of sunscreen. Even Melissa was in a bikini, a pink one with white, shell-textured beads on the hip strings.

Courtney was wearing shorts and a camisole top, and she was not sunbathing. ‘For someone who just took over the SSF, you seem very relaxed,’ she said to Nava as she brought a tray of drinks out to those basking.

‘I went over the patrol schedules and a few other details yesterday afternoon,’ Nava replied without opening her eyes. ‘I start interviewing new recruits tomorrow morning. Today is my day off, but I have my ketcom here, so I’ll be alerted if there’s a problem that needs my attention.’

‘You know Nava always does her homework before anything else, Courtney,’ Mitsuko said.

‘Huh,’ Courtney responded. ‘Have you done your homework, Nava? Your schoolwork, I mean.’

‘On Saturday afternoon,’ Nava replied. ‘I have this in hand, Courtney. You really can stand down and stop worrying in my place.’

‘I’m not– Okay, yes, I probably am. I should relax, right? I should go put a bikini on and lie down beside you.’

‘Yes,’ Mitsuko said, ‘you should. Relax, Courtney. Nava’s got this. All you need to worry about for the rest of the year is your final grades.’

Courtney winced. ‘That jinxed it. Something really bad is going to happen now.’

‘I must concur with my predecessor,’ Nava said. ‘What were you thinking, Suki?’

‘You worry too much. Kyle is visiting this weekend, isn’t he?’

‘Yes, he is,’ Courtney replied. Now she was smiling.

‘Is Naomi coming with him again?’

‘Yes. Kyle thinks he wants to see how Nava is coping.’

‘That’s going to be difficult to decide,’ Nava said. ‘I won’t even have been doing the job for a week.’

‘Well, we can’t think of another reason for him coming. Unless it’s just nostalgia.’

‘I guess we’ll see when they get here.’

236/5/8.

The SSF’s HQ was, for obvious reasons, a secure suite of rooms. If you were not a member, you needed to request access. Two of the rooms were on an external corridor: the one where the SSF met when needed, and the one where hearings were conducted. It just so happened that the ‘court’ room was guaranteed to be free all day, so it was that one Nava was using to conduct her interviews.

When she hit the release button for the door after she heard the door’s chime, Moritz Evered poked his head into the room with a guilty sort of look on his face. Briefly, Nava wondered what he had been up to, but she concluded his ‘guilt’ was more about confusion. He had been summoned to court and he had no clue why, but he had a bad feeling there was probably something he had done wrong to warrant the new captain of the SSF wanting to see him.

‘Come in, Moritz,’ Nava said. ‘You’re not in trouble. This just happens to be a useful room.’

‘Uh, right,’ Moritz replied, entering and allowing the door to close behind him. He still hung near the door, wondering what was going on. ‘Why did you want to see me, Nava? I mean, Captain. Captain Nava?’

‘Nava is fine for now. Have a seat.’ Nava waited while Moritz took the seat she had indicated beside her at the table normally used for the SSF contingent at any given hearing. He was a big man, but right now he looked kind of small, nervous. That was probably a good reflection of his personality. He was generally pretty brash, but there was an undercurrent of insecurity behind his bravado which kept him to the status of wingman among his peers. He was not ugly, but he was also not particularly good-looking either. Mid-brown hair and hazel eyes did nothing to distinguish him.

‘So, why am I here?’ he asked.

‘I’ll get straight to the point then. I’d like you to consider becoming a member of the SSF.’

Moritz’s face froze in surprise. ‘You’re serious?’

‘Generally. And specifically. I’m seriously offering you a position in the SSF. As is fairly widely known, I declined Courtney’s offer last year. While it’s generally assumed that people offered the job will accept, I don’t hold that view. You may decline if you wish.’

‘Uh, you know, we haven’t always been exactly friendly.’

‘I’m aware.’

He frowned. ‘But you still want me?’

‘I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.’

‘No… No, I guess you wouldn’t. Can I think about it?’

‘I’d like to know before Friday, if possible, but you may consider it.’

Wheels turned. Nava could almost see his brain working. It meant rank within the student community. It meant working under Nava, a support student who had in fact killed a friend of his in a duel. Nava was actually pretty badass and not as bad as he had first thought. She was better than most combat students when it came to fighting. It meant responsibility. Was he up to that? How could he really refuse?

‘I’ve thought about it,’ Moritz said. ‘I’m in.’

Nava nodded. ‘Thank you, Moritz. It requires confirmation from the administration, but that’s basically a formality. You’ll hear what they say by the end of the week, probably sooner. They’ll ship you some new uniform jackets at that time. I’ll be in touch with timetables and other details. Welcome to the SSF.’

One down, several more to go. It was not going to be a short day.

236/5/11.

Two dashing men in ASF uniform of black and gold walked into the house. One of them was immediately wrapped in a flying Courtney. The other edged past the couple as though this were the most normal thing in the world and continued into the lounge.

‘Good morning, President, Captain, and Secretary,’ Naomi said.

Melissa giggled. ‘Maybe we should get Marie to move in too. Then we could have all the female members of the council under one roof.’

‘Where would we put her?’ Mitsuko asked.

‘Well, Nava hasn’t actually slept in her room since we moved in…’

Rather than answer, Nava got to her feet. ‘Good morning, Naomi. I’ll go make some drinks.’ She set off toward the door at the back of