A Walk to Greater Worlds: Aeriel Trilogy #3

Chapter 7

With a resonant thud, the large wooden doors swung open on well-polished hinges, snatching Ruban out of his ruminations.

The tall, sinewy form of Rifaq Nazir blocked most of the doorway as he surveyed the room with his steely, dark-eyed gaze. With deep-set eyes and a rigid jawline, the defence minister resembled more a stern marble statue than a living, breathing man. Even at sixty-nine, he looked every inch the lieutenant general he'd once been – before entering politics upon his retirement from the military.

When he finally stepped into the conference room, the two men standing behind him came into view.

Dr. Visht, the skinny, bespectacled scientist who headed the team in charge of developing the reinforced sifblades at SifCo. And Prahlad Kujur, the short, portly minister of commerce with thick white hair and an infectious smile.

"Welcome, gentlemen." Hiba looked languidly up from the file she'd been perusing. "I'm glad you've decided to grace us with your presence."

She knew, as did everyone in the room, that the three men had been stuck briefing the prime minister on recent events involving the cults, including the agenda for today's meeting. The man refused to accept a meeting with anyone but the Aeriel queen herself, which was why Hiba was here, in his stead.

Her tone made it clear what she felt about this arrangement.

Rifaq ignored the jibe, directing a skeptical glance at Dhriti Pathak before taking the seat beside her.

Now that Ruban thought about it, it was odd for the senior secretary of defence to be attending this meeting along with the defence minister, who clearly outranked her. And if Rifaq's expression was anything to go by, he hadn't expected Dhriti to be here, either.

Once all three men were seated, Unnati began. "The lynching of the Aeriel at Kanla Park was only one in a series of such incidents, but it was the most serious. Due to the presence of the reinforced sifblade that HAVA had somehow managed to procure–"

"You mean steal," Jheel said, taking the words right out of Ruban's mouth.

Unnati glared at Jheel, but continued. "There's no need to get caught up in the semantics. The heart of the issue is that the cults are becoming bolder by the day. And apart from posing a problem for law enforcement," she shot Ashwin a quick glance. "Their actions are putting a strain on our...uh... incipient relations with Vaan."

Rifaq aimed a piercing glower at Ashwin. "I can't say I see the problem with that. This alliance was a foolish idea to begin with. I've always said–"

"It's not just about the alliance," Ruban interjected, before Ashwin could derail the meeting with some cutting rejoinder. "Reinforced sif is volatile, dangerous – as I'm sure Dr. Visht will agree. And the cults have no training on how to properly wield it. These stolen sifblades are a risk to the cultists themselves, as well as to any other civilians in the vicinity."

"There's also the matter of how this cult got its hands on the reinforced sifblade," grunted Raizada, the IAW director. "Those blades are still in the experimental stage. Last I checked, allocations in Ragah were limited to the Chief Hunter of each of the five Quarters. And, of course, Unnati has one.

"That makes for a total of six reinforced sifblades in the capital. So, unless they're being smuggled in from another state – where supply is even more constrained – we have to assume there's a leak in SifCo that HAVA is exploiting."

"Or in one of these five Hunter Quarters you just mentioned," said Dr. Visht, smiling thinly. "Considering the revelations about Janak Nath's history – and the IAW's not-so-subtle attempts to cover it up – I think we all realize that the Hunter Corps is far from incorruptible."