I could see the wheels turning in the man’s head, and when he asked, I confirmed there were probably a lot more cases of magic being used illegally, and not just where we’d found this case. Mages had just as much ability to move around the Imperium as anyone else. And there was just as little control over what they could access, as any other person. The only wonder was, something like this hadn't happened already.
Magical insemination though was something even I hadn't thought was possible, but apparently was for a movement master. It narrowed the field for this rogue mage down a lot. The stupid thing was, he could probably make a good living doing it legitimately, for couples unable for some reason to have the child they wanted, and technology still failing them.
Modifying memories was a known thing, although mages known to be able to do this were rare. Much more rare than spine entertainments made it out to be. Jill kept trying to get us interested in watching them, because they had imaginative versions of what mages should be able to do. So far I’d resisted, but I couldn’t avoid discussions of them at the dinner table.
A mage capable of both was unheard of. If there had been in the past, it hadn't been documented. But that was probably the point. You don’t document what you don’t want to encourage mages to try. Someone obviously had though, or we were dealing with two mages, which was actually much more likely.
Burnside and Jane listened, made notes, and said little. But I could see the fire burning in his eyes, and realized this sort of hunt was what got him up in the morning. It was pretty obvious he was yet another draftee, doing a job he didn’t really want to do, because no-one else could. So I was happy to give him the sort of challenge he relished.
After we left security, we again followed Syrinx. This time to a conference room on the Terminus station, where we were quickly joined by a group of senior mages. This included the Mage King of Kelewan himself, who was none too happy being summoned.
Syrinx outlined what we’d discovered, and what I’d done to discover it. Even the Mage King looked surprised, both for having a rogue mage with the sort of power and control this one did, and what I’d done. Personally I hadn’t considered what I’d done as all that impressive as far as magic was concerned, but it quickly became apparent I was the only known lie detector since Thorn, there’d never been one before him, and no-one had ever heard of anyone silencing a group of people before. Truth to tell, I only did it because I didn’t know it was impossible. Now I knew it was considered impossible, so obviously I wouldn’t be doing it again. Yes, I was annoyed, and I made an effort to keep my thoughts civil.
I made it quite clear I was only here to supply information, and it was up to them to chase down whoever was responsible for the crimes. They looked at me as if I was mad. Maybe I was, but that was beside the point. I was Imperium, had a full time job, and civilian matters were their concern. I had a few ugly thoughts about mage leaders who couldn’t control their mages, but didn’t voice them.
We went over the skills necessary to pull off what we knew had been done to two people, and most thought it had to be more than one mage involved. But the Mage King looked troubled, and when pressed suggested it might be a mage master called Pangbornd, who hadn’t been seen since returning from the ill-fated first jump drive test. He certainly had the move magic skills, but no-one had known he could do memory altering. If indeed he had. But it gave them a start for someone to look for.
That out of the way, Syrinx proposed a new level of master insignia for those considered a grand master skill level. Instead of the normally flat insignia, she proposed the new one be the same size as the current master insignia, but be half of a sphere shape instead. The only other people who had a non-flat insignia was the Imperator, who wore a starburst with a red gem in the middle, and flag officers who wore stars. All other insignia was flat.
This was accepted by all present, but I was pretty sure only because no-one alive at the moment had this level of magic skill. Thorn would definitely have qualified as one, but he was gone.
So naturally as soon as the vote had been taken, and the insignia design authorized, Tanith proposed me to be elevated to grand master. I looked at him as if he was crazy. The Mage King looked at him as if he was a traitor, and everyone else just nodded. The formal vote was redundant, and no-one opposed the motion.
It made me the senior mage.
Of everyone.
Which was exactly what I didn’t want.
After I took my hand away from my face, I told them they still had to run their civilian affairs themselves, and if it became necessary to bother me with them, no-one was going to like what bothering me looked like. Syrinx and Tanith actually laughed. The King looked relieved, which suggested he’d been none too pleased with the idea of having a grand master who wanted to run things, and me not wanting to suited him just fine.
Did I want to be keep apprised of the search for the rogue mage? Yes. But summaries only. Did I want to be kept apprised of other mage infractions? Hell no I didn’t, unless such action was of a level which required consideration by senior masters. Did I want to hold regular meetings at this level?
I told them to stop asking stupid questions, and moved myself back to Judge without realizing I was jumping myself, without a ship, half the length of the core galaxy. I appeared in my ready room, and surprised the hell out of Serena when I walked out unexpectedly and took my chair. The two AIs gaped at me as well, having had a few seconds more warning than Serena did.
“What did the Admiral want?” asked Serena.
“Fuck!” I said, causing them to grin back at me.
I’d forgotten he still wanted to see me.
Eighteen
“Congratulations, Grand Master.”
I’d had Leanne contact the admiral’s aide, asking if I could have half an hour to eat before I came to see him, now that mage duties were concluded, and I hadn't eaten since breakfast, it now being half way through the afternoon.
While I was wolfing down fast food on the bridge, and getting a status update on the squadron, my insignia shifted on my uniform. Serena caught the change in her mirror, looked surprised for a moment, then squealed and rushed over to hug me. After a butler brought me a second helping of food to cover what had gone all over my uniform and chair, I managed to complete eating without anyone else knowing. The suit of course didn’t stain, and had only needed to be shifted to be rid of anything sticking to it. The cleaning bots dealt with the mess while I finished eating in the XO’s chair.
Only Mel and Loren were still here, the rest being out in two groups, as jump points were being closed. There were several dinosaur fleets inside the closed area still, but we had time to deal with them. Or someone did if we continued being on Diplomat detail. They would of course run into Trixone fleets within a day anyway.
I walked back to see the admiral, with my calm back in place. After the greeting, which I’d thanked him for, he waved me to the other side of his desk.
“Well commander, I guess you’re wondering what’s next for your squadron.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Right. Your current orders will continue for a day or two more. There are two civilian vessels going to join Diplomat later this afternoon. Both belong to the Imperator. One will have a full cargo of trade items we’ve already established are wanted by the locals, and will be picking up a load of, shall we say, private orders. The deal is already done, so the ship just needs to unload and load up again. But that in itself will be a test, since we know Trixone stations don’t have our freight transfer facilities. It’s also a test of whether the locals will deliver what they agreed to, but none of that is your concern.”