‎Chapter 15: Breathless through the night

Rapid-fire Carson suppressed a groan as the muscles in his arm threatened to give way as he crawled and shifted his weight onto it. At least there was no damage left from the gardeners' sneaky throwing star attack. Trembling, but still silent, he straightened up a little and shifted his weight to move one of his legs. Careful not to step on any dry leaves or cause a branch to wobble. Always keeping his balance, taking each step slowly and evenly. He had kept his usual arsenal to a minimum. Just two heavy .45 caliber pistols made of blackened matte steel and his favorite MP. And only half a dozen special grenades. Just the bare minimum of weaponry. He felt a little naked with so little firepower. It had taken him almost half an hour to walk the hundred meters from the small bushes behind the park bench, where he had dropped into in an unobserved moment, to his current position. But he was like a shadow in the afternoon sun. He had spent several breaks and afternoons walking the paths of the university grounds until he was sure he had found the entrance to the secret headquarters of the gardeners. He had wasted the first two weeks of the semester lying in wait for them in the parking lot or at the entrances, but after he hadn't seen any of them pass by, he had realized that they must live on the grounds. They probably had a secret exit too, just in case they wanted to go into town. He'd teach those damn pajama wearers a lesson as soon as he surprised them at their headquarters. Now, late in the afternoon, the university campus was a hive of activity. Students everywhere were finishing their classes and ringing in the end of the day. In this hustle and bustle, no one paid any attention to the somewhat secluded area near the wall. The background noise would further camouflage his approach.

*

The Japanese gardener sat comfortably high up in a tree and watched the American, who in his eyes was awkward and clumsy, doing what he would probably call "sneaking". Since his civilian clothes were too delicate for gardening - and his contract forbade the wearing of his usual work clothes, a black ninja suit, except on official occasions such as the beginning of term - he had chosen a comfortable pair of green dungarees and a matching checked shirt. However, the choice of color matched the foliage he had silently placed himself among well enough that even a more attentive observer would only have noticed him if he moved. He had to give the gaijin credit for the fact that he really did move almost silently. However, with the speed of a lame turtle, that wasn't really difficult either. It would take him another half hour to reach the tool shed, which seemed to be his destination. The gardener idly wondered if he would try to raid the rakes and lawnmowers or perhaps just borrow a watering can. One of the most important things he had learned in his long service as a ninja with the yakuza was patience. So he didn't consider it a burden to have to wait a while longer for the student, who was generally known to be trigger-happy, to reveal his target.

*

Jake lay motionless once more and then carefully raised his head to look around. Just as he was about to crawl on, he noticed a movement and froze. Someone was moving a good fifty meters away on the wall that surrounded the university grounds. He had been told that there were safeguards there to prevent anyone from crossing the wall. But that was obviously a bluff. Against the sunlight, it was unmistakable that someone had just climbed over the wall. And another one. The two humanoid figures disappeared from his field of vision as they touched the ground and disappeared behind trees and some ornamental shrubs as seen from him. Everything remained quiet for a moment. Then a veritable stream of figures, only dimly recognizable in the backlight, began to cross the wall along a ten-metre stretch. Jake stood up carefully and scurried over to a tree. There he knelt down and peered close to the trunk for the intruders. They certainly weren't students.

Some came closer, but did not move directly towards him, but would sneak past him for a good distance. He saw a man in a dark, perhaps even black suit emerge from between the light-filled trees. He wore sunglasses and carried a slim black briefcase in his left hand. In the other he was unmistakably holding a compact submachine gun. Jake didn't need more than a quick glance to recognize that it was the Heckler & Koch MP 5 model in the shortened version. A classic weapon for close combat. His heart almost stopped when a soft voice suddenly rang out behind him: "Shall we face these intruders together?"

Jake wheeled around and had both guns at the ready before he had properly registered who was standing in front of him. One of the Asian gardeners in the leisure elevator. After he made no move to attack, just stood there calmly, Jake put his guns away again. He looked at the ground. No tracks, except his own crawling tracks in the short grass. Had he really left such an obvious trail? The gardener's broad grin answered his question.

As he concentrated on this, he noticed that although the man was standing openly, he was still keeping trees exactly between himself and the intruders. As they moved across the terrain, he slid slowly and steadily to the side without haste to remain in cover. The student remained crouched in cover while he whispered: "Do you think they're terrorists?"

"It's hard to say. I think they want to kidnap one of you students. Or they want to steal something. It doesn't matter. In any case, we should stop them. We'd lose face if these guys could just get in here unchallenged. Look what they've done to the rose bed by the wall! Let's get some weapons first."

Jake grinned and pointed to his not inconsiderable arsenal. The gardener nodded at him. He then turned and motioned for the student to follow him: "I'm Wu."

"Jake."

The two of them crept the rest of the way to the gardener's shed. Wu unlocked the padlock, let Jake go first and then pulled the door shut behind them. "We can talk normally here. The wooden walls provide good sound insulation." He pulled out a radio and informed the other gardeners and then the principal.

*

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Principal Argus angrily threw his phone against the wall, which was already covered in old scratches, and cursed loudly. His secretary came storming in, looked disapprovingly at the shattered phone, wordlessly fetched one of the numerous replacement devices from a cupboard, switched it on and placed it on the desk. Then, to be on the safe side, she moved back a little. The principal was standing in the middle of the room and his head seemed to flicker as eyes appeared and then disappeared again. Upset, he grumbled to himself: "Mandates! Followers of Mandatus right here in my university! Where did they come from? I've already fought these spoilsports on numerous worlds, but why are they appearing here? They're just as trapped here as we are."

He began to pace up and down. "A suicide mission? And why didn't I see it coming before?"

He concentrated on a very specific type: veils!

Yes, master?

Why didn't you warn me?

I can't see the intruders' thoughts. Before I sensed their excitement, I hadn't noticed anything unusual. I can barely make out the mandates even through the students' eyes. Something... bothers me. I have something like vertigo when I try to see them. It's very irritating.

It's normal that they can hide their thoughts, but this is much more complex. They have outwitted the security cameras, the motion detectors on the top of the wall, even the AI. And they haven't spied out the area with totally obvious spies, as they usually do. They're servants of the cosmic order, they normally do everything by the book. And their manual probably hasn't been updated since the Flood. What's new... Wait... Are there any other intruders? Anyone you don't know on the premises? Anyone unusual?

Someone unusual on the grounds of Nexus University... That was a good one. Wait... There are... I can't really see them, they're filtered out of the observers' perception. I search the memory of students who have seen them... Awkward... But it works! There are some people in yellow robes. They are carrying cylindrical objects with handles. The upper part rotates. And none of the students pay any attention to them. Given their unusual style of dress, this should at least attract some attention. There are over half a dozen of them. Scattered all over the grounds. And at least five more are circling the grounds just outside the wall.

Yellow robes? And Tibetan prayer wheels? That can only be the monks from the Order of St. DingDong. I should have grabbed one of them the first time I noticed them near the university. They're great at influencing people's perceptions and taking themselves to a higher level of consciousness, where they can even influence electronic devices. Plus, those pesky prayer wheels interfere with most spells in the area in completely unpredictable ways.

Many of our most ingenious devices use loopholes and rather... let's say questionable interpretations of the laws of physics. The mandates' reality enhancers can weaken or even completely neutralize most of them. Together, both groups are a serious problem for us, as they can reduce us to the level of boring normal people.

But this boring Mandatus forbids his followers to ally with groups that use techniques originally developed by the mighty Eris...

You mentioned that the Primordials cannot see this planet directly. So his followers need not fear that their master is watching them.

Never! They are all worshippers of the cosmic order. You should see them in a car chase. They lose every time because they have to adhere strictly to the speed limits. Not to mention stop signs and traffic lights.

And they mentioned that an attack on our university would be a suicide mission for Mandaten.

You mean they've sunk that low? Oh, damn it! That's against the rules of the game! Not that I don't think it's great when someone breaks the rules. But... only we should be allowed to use chaos powers!

The principal stormed out of the office straight past his secretary through the door to the corridor. Seconds later he came back: "Siri, call the gardeners. Tell them to drive those guys out of the grounds!"

The secretary rolled her eyes: "My name isn't... Never mind. It's not important now. Shall I ask the students to participate in the defense over the PA system?"

Argus paused as he was about to storm off again: "Are they crazy? If we just let them go, we might as well burn down the university ourselves! Only a completely crazy psychopath would come up with that idea!" Then he raced off again.