Юн Ли - Revenant Gun

Given most people’s preconceptions about Shuos hexarchs, it wasn’t fair to hold Jedao’s limited imagination against him. “Jedao,” Mikodez said, “assassinating hexarchs isn’t a capital crime around here. I’ve done it myself.”

“Assassinations,” Jedao said. “Of people I’ve never met. You killed them. Nirai-zho told me. It’s very hard to care about people I don’t know anything about.”

“Jedao—”

“I’m not a soldier,” he said, as if the battle at Terebeg hadn’t happened. “I dressed up in a uniform I have no claim to. I’m ready for the penalty.”

Mikodez knew better than to reach across the table to pat Jedao’s hand, even if he was reminded of how his nephew Niath had looked when he first came to the Citadel of Eyes after the incident that had ruined him. Instead, Mikodez said, relentless, “Kel Inesser might care about that, but if I’d meant you to be court-martialed, I’d have left you in her hands. You did us a favor killing Kujen.”

Jedao stiffened.

Mikodez had expected that. “I miss him too. We may be the only people who feel that way, however. And it’s still true that he had to die.”

“I know,” Jedao said, but he hunched his shoulders.

“You’re not here because you’re a criminal or a traitor,” Mikodez said. The Kel code of conduct didn’t matter to him. Jedao was dangerous . This was about mitigating danger, not meting out punishment.

“I will not kill for you,” Jedao said in a stronger voice. In that moment, Mikodez saw, like a shadow stretched taut, the man General Jedao might have become, if only.

“How like you,” Mikodez said with an irony that Jedao was incapable of understanding. “Everything in blacks and whites. Have you considered that you might wind up in a situation where your military abilities—however much you’d like to deny them—would save lives? Even, I daresay, do the world some good? Don’t answer. Just think about nuances for once.”

Jedao was silent.

“No,” Mikodez went on, having made his point, “you’re here so I can offer you a job.”

This time the silence was distinctly bewildered.

“Let’s be clear on one thing,” Mikodez said. “As a general you are an asset, but hardly irreplaceable, and not anything like a winning hand, either.” If only Kel Command had figured that out centuries ago. “There are a lot of good generals.”

“I never had any doubt my luck would run out eventually,” Jedao said.

Jedao’s luck had always been decidedly ambivalent, but no need to shove the fact in his face.

“So if I’m not to be your gun,” Jedao said, “then what?”

“I need an instructor,” Mikodez said. “Specifically, I need an instructor to design an ethics curriculum for the Shuos.”

Jedao’s head jerked up. Then he laughed helplessly. “I’m sorry, Shuos-zho, since when do the Shuos care ?”

“Normally I don’t,” Mikodez said agreeably. “I don’t have scruples as you understand them. It’s one of the reasons Kujen and I got along so well. We had our disagreements, though. My people don’t use torture.”

Jedao exuded skepticism.

“That’s not because I care about hurting people. I order my share of assassinations. It’s because it doesn’t work in an interrogation context. I don’t believe in doing things that don’t work. It’s wasteful.”

“Everyone has been at pains to tell me how powerful the Shuos have become under your rule,” Jedao said. “You’ll understand, I don’t have the breadth of experience to form an opinion one way or the other. But supposing it’s true, why the offer?”

“Because everything goes up in cinders the moment I die,” Mikodez said. “And because you are an excellent exhibit for how we are doing something wrong, and why I had better fix the problem.” Fuck this. He popped a candy in his mouth. Jedao’s That had better not be poisoned because being blamed for an assassination I didn’t do is too much even for me expression was priceless.

“There’s only one person I trust to succeed me,” Mikodez said, thinking of Zehun and their cats. And some younger prospects, but they needed time to mature into their abilities, time they might not have. “The problem is, they’re significantly older than I am, they’re already as much of a target as I am, and they don’t want the job. There are plenty of senior Shuos with the skills to take over, but most of them would become tyrants if they didn’t start that way. We did this to ourselves, you know. Our entire institutional culture is predicated on backstabbing people. That’s all very well during a game, but deadly for the long-term health of the institution itself. It’s a miracle we’ve lasted this long.”

A flicker in Jedao’s eyes. “You want to reform the Shuos. I assume you’re also pursuing other avenues.”

Mikodez smiled wryly.

Jedao lowered his gaze. “I’ll save you the time,” he said roughly. “You want a curriculum? I’ll give you a three-word treatise: Don’t be me. ”

“Such a hothead,” Mikodez said. Another candy. The four-hundred-year-old general had been calculating to the point of resembling an abacus if you looked beyond the deceptively affable mannerisms. But then, even the original couldn’t have started that way. “Or have you lost all your head for strategy? At least hear out the rest of the offer before you reject it out of hand. You should eat, by the way.”

Jedao took a single cracker and bit into it. It was nice having someone around the Citadel follow directions. Not that Mikodez was under any illusions that Jedao would eat without supervision.

“You will be confined to the Citadel of Eyes,” Mikodez said, “rather than posted to one of the academies proper. Partly this is because I need to keep an eye on you. Partly it’s because it’ll trigger a war if word gets out that you’re wandering loose. I can’t guarantee your safety off this station anyway, given your notoriety. If you follow the protocols, you’ll be as safe as I am.” Good thing he didn’t have to listen to Zehun’s sarcastic commentary. They’d give him an earful later. “Your living circumstances won’t be too onerous, I promise. We can make you comfortable, and you’ll have access to companionship.” Aha: a flinch. “I’m going to insist you take advantage of that, by the way. Loneliness does in more Shuos than bullets do.”

“There’s more, isn’t there,” Jedao said, clearly wanting Mikodez to switch to another subject. “What would my duties be?”

“The development of the aforementioned curriculum,” Mikodez said. “The elaborated form, for those of us who need help working things out from first principles. Publish it in game form or as a paper or lesson plan or whatever. I’m not picky about format. I can get assistants to help you with the pedagogy. We have good archives for you to refer to, and your work will be reviewed by people with the appropriate clearances. Once every few weeks we’ll have lunch, assuming the universe hasn’t blown up. Have some more crackers, by the way. I can see that keeping you fed is going to be a trial.”

“It’s a generous offer,” Jedao said.

“Generous, hell. You’ll draw a first-year instructor’s stipend, plus an appropriate allowance and the usual benefits for being on my personal staff. Given the circumstances, room and board is on me. The basic fare is passable, although my assistant has talked the cafeteria into cutting me off after one slice of cake per meal. The security arrangements are going to be a galloping nuisance, but as social experiments go, you’re a bargain.”

Jedao drew a shuddering breath. “Do I have a choice?”

“Do you want one?”

“Yes,” he said after a pause.