The Marshal Is My Mate novel · Chapter 6 of 24
Chapter 6: Retest
The Bureau of Ranks tested Drones in a round white hall with a public gallery.
The Director had opened every seat to the press.
Lucan walked in with Garrick at his shoulder and Corin one step behind.
In the front row sat Perrin and Ansel.
Perrin wore long sleeves buttoned to the wrist. His face was pale, and his jaw was set.
Ansel lifted a hand and smiled at Lucan.
Lucan did not wave back.
"Duke Merrow," the Director said from a raised desk. She was tall and silver-haired, with a small silver scale on her lapel. "Place your hands on the plates."
A technician led Lucan to a cradle in the middle of the floor.
It had two flat plates of black glass set into a steel rest.
Lucan laid his palms on them.
His palms ached at once, a dull familiar pulse.
"The test storm begins at the lowest grade and rises," the technician said. "Settle each one as long as you can."
A needle moved on the wall display.
The first storm hummed, and Lucan settled it easily.
The second came, and the third.
He felt them go quiet under his hands one by one, until the needle stood at the line marked B.
Then the aching in his palms became sharp.
At the fifth storm the needle shook and slid back.
It stopped at C, and it stayed there.
The technician switched the cradle off.
"C-rank," the Director said, and the gallery whispered. "As recorded six years ago. As recorded today."
Lucan took his hands off the plates.
They were trembling. He pressed them against his coat.
"Section nine of the Bond Code is clear," the Director said. "A Drone may not bond a Sentinel more than two ranks above. The Marshal is beyond rank. The bond is void."
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