As soon as the door opened, an almost-visible wave of humid air assaulted me. It didn’t get any better as I neared the airstair, and I once again felt overdressed. The magically-enhanced cloth was great for protection, but it didn’t breathe at all. I vanished into the plane’s confined restroom, changing into a floral-print sundress I had packed. The stiff uniform didn’t fit well in my suitcase, but I managed to force my zipper closed. I hoped there would be enough left over from my parents’ money to invest in a bigger bag.

            O’Connor didn’t seem to care, besides pointedly looking at his watch at the top of the stairs, but I noticed Zack’s eyes following me.

“Can I finally know where we landed?” I asked O’Connor as we descended from the airplane. Zack had insisted on carrying my suitcase for me, which I thought was sweet.

            “You might as well, sir,” said Zack, bringing up the rear. “Rose is bound to see a road sign somewhere.” Once we were back at ground level, he handed me back my luggage.

“Thank you, Zack,” I said, taking my wheeled suitcase back.

            The redheaded wizard turned, looking laconically at Zack. “Rose? Zack? Glad you two got friendly while I was busy.” He continued, either not noticing or not caring about my blush. “Welcome to Labuan, part of the Malaysian Remnant.”

“Do you have to call it that?” asked Zack with a wince.

“Nobody’s ever shy about calling Hawaii and Puerto Rico the American Remnant,” O’Connor said. “Toughen up; we’re probably going to take mainland Malaysia back before I get to see my home again.”

I stayed quiet, trying not to think of how North Ireland and some scattered islands were pretty much all that was left of the UK. God, I was going to hear somebody say ‘United Kingdom Remnant’ at some point and I was going to die a little inside.

“Now if we’re done with the pity party,” he said, “back to the topic of Labuan. Pre-Horde, it used to be a wonderful vacation spot.”

            “What’s it now?” I asked. We had landed on a remote section of runway. I could make out the main airport from where we stood, and glass and steel skyscrapers that wouldn’t have looked out of place in London peaked over the tree line in the distance.

            “A wonderful vacation spot with a lot of refugees from mainland Asia,” replied O’Connor. “So, there’s not quite as much nature or local culture as there used to be.” He shrugged. “That’s pretty much anywhere these days. Still the best posting I’ve had, though.”

            Zack didn’t seem to care for the American’s assessment, but O’Connor also didn’t seem to give a care. We dropped the topic by some unspoken agreement.

            It seemed unfair that it was so hot when it was cloudy out. I could barely see the sun. I had thought the Japanese summers were bad, but I felt like I was swimming as much as walking through the humid, tropical air as we made our way to a waiting black car. Wait, that wasn’t a car, that was…

            “A limo?” I asked.

            O’Connor smirked at me. “It’s in the budget for this op. Might as well travel in comfort when we can.”

            I sighed contentedly as I settled into my seat. “Air conditioning is the real magic.”

            Zack gave me an odd look. “You control the weather, right? Why didn’t you make us a breeze?”

            “I haven’t had a chance to discharge my magic for a while,” I admitted. “I’m not sure I could stop if I started.”

            “Then let’s get you practicing,” said O’Connor, looking up through the car’s sunroof. “This is a work study, after all. When it starts, I want you to stop it.”

            “When what sta—” I was cut off by a flash of lightning and a peal of thunder as the sky opened up all at once. I could barely see ten feet away through the downpour.

            “How did you know it was going to do that?” I asked.

            “Air felt pretty muggy,” said O’Connor. “I’m surprised you couldn’t feel it, weather wizard.”

            “I can affect the weather, but I don’t exactly feel it.” I tried not to sound defensive, but I failed miserably.

            He raised an eyebrow. “That might be the problem with your control.”

            I didn’t feel like responding, so I focused on my affinity. It was a different problem than I’d tackled before. Stormbringer was good at disturbing weather patterns, but I didn’t usually feel the need to stop the rain. I realized that the storm was inevitable; the combination of moisture, temperature, and atmospheric conditions meant that the water was coming down, one way or the other. It was useless to try.

            So, if I couldn’t stop the storm, maybe I could redirect it? Syncing with the environment around me, I imagined a pair of hands being driven into the center of the clouds and forcing them apart. The weather system fought me; it was like trying to make a sandcastle when the sand was underwater and the tide was coming in. I doubled my efforts, then redoubled them. Pins and needles spread over my skin, and I’m sure I was glowing.

            “Holy…” muttered Zack under his breath.

            I cracked open one eye. For a half-kilometer all around us, the blasting, tropical sun touched the soaked pavement, filling the air with mist as the standing rainwater evaporated. Outside of that little bubble of sunshine, the storm still raged on.

            “Well done, kid,” said O’Connor. He leaned back and tapped the glass separating us from the driver, and the limo’s engine roared to life. “Now, I don’t want another raindrop to touch us until we get to the base.”

            “What?” I squeaked.

            “You heard me,” he said, crossing his legs, casual as could be. “Asahi said you were a special case, and I had to handle you with kid gloves. He thinks you’re going to level the whole island with a tornado if you skin your knee.”

            “Mr. Maki said that?” It did sound like him…

            “Not in so many words, but I read between the lines,” O’Connor replied. “Let’s get you so in control that you can make him eat those words.”

            “I don’t know if—”

            “A Cooper’s never let me down yet,” said O’Connor, cutting me off. “Don’t be the first.”

            “You know my brothers?” I asked.

            He nodded. “Yeah, I used to work with Jack. Nice guy. Hard to keep in line during downtime, but he always got his work done.”

            “That sounds like Jack, too.” I realized the rain was coming closer as we merged onto the highway. Squeezing my eyes shut, I changed my approach. It was too inefficient to rip open the clouds as we moved, but I realized I could create a high-pressure zone directly above us. I had to create a smaller window of clear sky above us to keep up the pace.

            I’m usually bursting with magical energy, and I never really exhaust myself unless I’m intentionally wasting magic, like with the magical batteries. Keeping up that precise weather effect was different. I usually just let the storm do what it would, when I had any control at all, and I would barely break a sweat. However, when we pulled up at the security checkpoint down by the harbor, I felt like I’d run a triathlon.

            “You can relax, Cadet,” said O’Connor. “We’re here. Congrats, you passed.” He leaned out the window to flash his ID to a grumpy, dripping guard in a uniform similar to Zack’s.

            With O’Connor looking away, I felt like I could finally relax. There was admiration in Zack’s eyes as I flopped back in my seat. “You’re astounding.” I could barely hear him over the rain pounding the roof of the limo.

            “You look surprised,” I said. “My brothers could do the same thing.”

            “I never saw them do something like that, yeah?” he said. “They made a little lightning, maybe turned a rainy storm into a light drizzle, but not just cancel out a storm like that. It’s miraculous.”

            “You’re too kind,” I said, sticking out my pride-filled chest. Maybe I was too easy to flatter. You can’t blame me too much; I didn’t get praise for my magic or my skills often. I was always the bother. Lieutenant O’Connor had used it to get me into Malaysia in the first place, and it definitely raised Zack’s standing with me.

            O’Connor’s wry grin cut through my good feelings. “Look kids, I’m glad you’re getting along, but maybe you shouldn’t make goo-goo eyes at each other with a commanding officer around? There’re rules against fraternization. Well, only if you get caught.”

            I met Zack’s gaze. At least he looked as embarrassed as me.

Thanks for reading!

Also, this week I'm giving away a short sci-fi story on Kindle. You can check it out here.