Freedom, Humanity, and Other Delusions (Death's Handmaiden Book 3) by Niall Teasdale (best summer reads txt) 📕

are to blame,’ Nava replied, ‘and think that the office of student president might have changed the outcome.’

Courtney nodded. ‘I think it would work better as a strategy if she were running for SSF captain. I’m going to be stepping down at some point this year. She could be setting herself up to take my job when I go.’

‘Expecting to lose to me but pushing her case for leading the SSF?’ Mitsuko asked. ‘I’m not sure that fits…’ She looked at Nava, who shook her head.

‘She’s running to win,’ Nava said. ‘Her personality suggests she won’t enter a race she doesn’t think she has a chance of winning. That doesn’t mean she won’t go for SSF captain if her presidential bid fails. However, I do expect her to do her best to beat Suki.’

‘I’m starting to feel bad about missing both speeches,’ Carina said. ‘I guess I can watch them on the News Club’s feed…’

‘You should,’ Melissa said. ‘It’s important. This is going to be the only chance you get to participate in a diplomatic process.’ She frowned a little. ‘I wonder what Trudy’s view of the election would be.’

‘I’ll ask her. We can watch the speech vids together. Uh, though I was just going to vote for Mitsuko. I mean, what if I listen to what Taryn Borchardt has to say and think she makes more sense?’

‘Then democracy will have worked,’ Mitsuko said, ‘and I will not think less of you for voting for Taryn. Despite being a member of one of the most powerful families in the Alliance and so quite invested in the status quo, I believe in democracy, especially in limited forms.’

‘But the chances are you’ll vote for Suki anyway,’ Melissa said. ‘Nava is going to vote for Suki. At least, I think she is.’

‘So far,’ Nava said, ‘I am.’

Melissa nodded. ‘If Nava thinks Suki is the better candidate, then it’s likely to be true.’

‘But Nava’s Mitsuko’s girlfriend,’ Carina said. ‘Doesn’t that mean she’s biased toward–’

‘No.’ There was a chorus of negative statements from pretty much everyone on the table aside from Nava.

Even Mitsuko shook her head and added to the negatives. ‘Nava would never let something like a personal relationship get in the way of an accurate assessment,’ Mitsuko went on. ‘My only consolation is that she would probably explain why she was voting against me and give me the chance to correct my attitude.’

‘That’s… kind of cold,’ Carina said. ‘And awesome. It’s kind of awesome too.’

Nava nodded. ‘I’m awesome. I’m glad people have begun to notice.’

‘No, you’re not,’ Mitsuko said. ‘You’re never happy when people notice how good you are.’

‘Ah. She knows me so well…’

236/2/6.

The News Club had a number of poll results up on their site and some of the figures were a little worrying. Nava scanned them as Luca Newton went through the morning announcements. There was nothing too worrying at this stage in the process, but they would need to be addressed.

The primary worry was that some of the student body were believing Taryn’s negative take on the previous year. The current student council’s approval rating had dropped from seventy-two percent to sixty-three. That could partially be accounted for by the influx of new students who had not actually experienced the year before and had only heard Taryn’s view. Partially, but not entirely: clearly, some of the older students were easily influenced.

The assessment was backed up by the general polling figures. Taryn was polling highly among first years and combat students. Mitsuko was getting better results in the older students and had a near monopoly in the support stream. It seemed that the combat stream still had some misgivings about Mitsuko’s egalitarian view of school life. It seemed likely that the race would be a relatively close one, but the campaigns had only just begun and Nava had confidence in Mitsuko’s political skills. It remained to be seen whether Taryn could present some useful policies and solidify her voting base. And there was still the possibility that some dirty tricks could be played before the end. It was definitely something to watch for.

236/2/8.

A susurration of sighs ran through the class as Miles Paris Sonkei walked into the classroom to begin the afternoon’s metaphysics lesson. Nava found it intensely amusing. The man had been teaching class 22C for a while now; a fairly large proportion of the female students were still reacting like lovesick teens.

Miles was an attractive man. Very attractive, in fact. He came in around a hundred and eighty centimetres, fairly tall and with a strong physique. His black hair had a carefully tousled quality: clearly cut by a skilled barber, but still with a hint of the wild about it. He had a strong jawline, high cheekbones, and thin but sensuous lips. Blue eyes sat under finely drawn black eyebrows. The whole was very easy on the eye and, objectively, Nava could see why the other girls liked him. Even Melissa was charmed, though her interest in academics had been blunted by Rochester.

To his credit, Miles did not react to the dreamy looks he received from around the room. Nava was yet to work out why he was oblivious to the attention. Rochester had suggested that their teacher was, in fact, not interested in female attention, but Hoshi had countered with the information that Miles had been in a couple of relationships with female students prior to graduation. None with men. Unless Miles had had a change of heart, he was not gay. That left a professional attitude or a disinterest in younger women. Nava’s classmates were almost all under seventeen and so off-limits; maybe he would become interested in a year or so.

‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ Miles said. The words had an almost immediate effect: the room went silent. ‘Let’s get started. We’ll be discussing the nature of the Q-field in considerable detail today and for the next several lessons. It’s a subject I personally find interesting, so I hope you’ll enjoy it, but it won’t be easy. Those