0 comments/ 9756 views/ 1 favorites Death of the Regent By: martincain Wolf 359 Ajax had drunk too much. The sobriety to realize that fact was gone but his body reminded him anyway with a queasiness in his stomach that required more and more concentration to control. To maintain his respect in the Regent's eyes, Ajax had matched him cup for cup The Regent had set his cup down and not picked it up. He was engaged with his wives as Ajax looked on. The five of them smiled at him, and cooed words that seemed to please their lord. He chuckled affectionately in low tones and allowed them to lift him to his feet. Once they guided him out the door, the revel was officially over. Ronald had excused himself earlier and was undoubtedly back on the Manchester Star, awaiting his return with the news that they could leave. Ajax got to his feet and turned for the hatch, only to find that he had a shadow. Nova had been kneeling beside him in silence. She put a delicate hand on his elbow and escorted him through the hatch, taking him right towards the hab sector instead of left for the hangar bay. “What’s your name?” Ajax managed as he dragged himself along the wall. She turned to him and for the first time he noticed her brown eyes sparkle. “Death,” She said softly. "Many men have tried to bargain with the Regent. Very few have succeeded, fewer still have gained his favor. Tell me what he sees in you." Ajax shook his head and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Centauri Brandy was potent but the effects relatively short-lived. He took a deep breath and for a moment his thoughts clarified. "He considers himself a businessman, I think he enjoys being a host," Ajax said, his words slurring slightly as they came out. "And once he found out who I was, he was more willing to deal." "So who are you?" Nova said. "I watched you fight. You are no merchant." She seemed puzzled when Ajax cackled. "What's so funny?" She demanded. "I'm a lucky piggy." Ajax said. "Was I part of your deal?" She said. Ajax leaned more heavily on her and wondered how much further he would have to walk. "No," Ajax said. The exercise was purging the Centauri Brandy from his system and his head was beginning to clear. Her accent was an addiction. "The Regent threw you in for free." "You are a pig." *** His alcohol buzz was gone, and after what seemed like an infinity, the tour Nova had given him of the quiet habitation complex ended when she stopped at a door. She punched a code in the keypad controlling the lock and the hatch slid open. The compartment was lit by several Chinese lanterns glowing softly red and from what he could see, it was filled with couches. "Make yourself at home." Nova said as she led him inside. "I must wash. I will not be long." She dropped her sweaty veils into a basket and moved towards shower room attached to the chamber. The door shut and soon Ajax could hear the sound of mist spraying from a showerhead. Unlike most other vacuum rocks, Midgard 3 had natural ice deposits. There was a tri-color EuroCon flag on her wall and drab, blue-black spacer jumpsuits hanging in the open alcove that served as a closet. Ajax picked a sleeve of one and examined the patch on the shoulder. It had a diamond-star stitched in with "ECS-1976 Danube Duchess" beneath it. "So that's where the Regent found her." Ajax muttered to himself and let the sleeve drop. The compartment was circular and there were shelves built into the walls, filled with all manners of things. Children's toys, a small gargoyle statuette, and books. He scanned the titles that Nova had collected. The one that caught his eye was a language dictionary, the old-fashioned kind made of paper glued to a stiff, paper-board spine, for converting English-to-Franco/German-to-Mandarin. He slid it off of the shelf and cracked it open. Besides the words in print, there were English words written in the margins and translated into Franco-German. Counter-intelligence, escape and evasion, K-9 team, "alarm goes off", security system, air-landed assault, Rapier, what the fek? Ajax thought as he thumbed through the pages and scanned the words scribbled on them. Nova seemed intense but clueless, though only one type of person needed to know what those words meant. The Rapier's a Combine air-defense missile. What does she need to know about any of this for? Who is this girl? He slid the dictionary back onto the shelf and scanned the spines of the other books on the shelf. There was one bound in plain black that seemed out of place. It was heavy, even in the reduced gravity of Midgard 3, and when he got it off of the shelf he saw why. "Krudge," He muttered softly to himself and turned it over. It was a radio disguised as a book. "Why does she need this for?” There was a code-disk slotted into the primary jack. He popped it off and was examining the settings on the underside when he heard a gasp. Nova was standing in the hatchway to the shower-room. She was wrapped in a towel and was looking at the transmitter and code-disk in his hands. "What are you doing with that?" She said in a tone that carried anger and impatience. "Put it back before you break it." "So what do you need one of these for?" Ajax said and slid the Type-34 back onto the shelf. Nova took a breath but paused, as if she were not entirely sure what to say, or which prepared lie to use. "I don't know what you're talking about." Nova said. "Now come over here. The Regent orders me to entertain you and I shall." Nova, with her hair damp and lithe features glistening with beads of water, did look pleasing. Ajax smirked as he walked forward. He took of his belt and rested it on the top of a flat storage bin. Free of the weight of the Blazer still snapped in the holster, his hips felt much looser. Nova settled back on the piles of large cushions that served as her nest and beckoned to him. Ajax settled next her and stretched out. "When I saw you fight," Nova said, unbuttoning his shirt, running her nails over his chest. "You were brilliant. I asked the Regent if I could have you." "I watched you dance," Ajax said. The cushions smelled like her and her voice was wonderfully soothing. "You were incredible. I've never seen anyone like you, type one or type two." "Did you want ten minutes alone with me?" Nova said and caressed his face. "Is that what you wanted, Mister Ajax?" "Yes," Ajax said, his head swimming. He felt intoxicated again. "But I'm not so sure anymore." "Why?" Nova said. She was blunt. "Tell me that you're not a spy and I'll forget why." Ajax said. Nova regarded him silently, but a smirk had formed on her lips. "We prefer to be called agents." Nova said quietly after a time, as if someone had made a similar mistake before. The emotions her voice conveyed ranged from extreme to extreme and he then understood the small lizard tattoo she wore on her shoulder. She was a chameleon. "It doesn't matter," Ajax said. "Tell me about me some more." "Bonventure," She said and fingered the patch on his uniform. "Is that your ship?" "No," Ajax said. "It's the company's, I'm just the pilot." "So why have you brought it here?" Nova said and stroked his hair. She smiled, and for the first time he noticed that her bottom teeth were imperfect. "This is no place for a company man." "To make a deal with the Regent." Ajax said. "What type of deal?" Nova said and began kissing his chest. Ajax felt the Old Spacer's Disease vanish and himself coming to attention. "We're making the spaceways safe for commerce again." Ajax said and closed his eyes. If she didn't hurry, in ten minutes he would be asleep. “No other reason." Ajax snapped his mouth shut and sat up, fixing Nova with an accusing stare. He took her hands off of him and got to his feet, kicking plush pillows out of the way as he buttoned his shirt and turned for the hatch. "Where are you going?" Nova said as she tightened the towel around her body and followed him. "Back to my ship." Ajax said. "I think I've had enough of your hospitality." "Why?" She said, pouting in little girl fashion. The chameleon had changed yet again. "Because for once the little voice in my head was right," Ajax said. "So did your master send you to find out if I was telling the truth?" "I don't understand." Nova said. "The Regent ordered me to entertain you, and I have been." Ajax grinned a fierce smile and shook his head. "Is he the one you use that transmitter to communicate with?" Ajax said and pointed a finger towards the shelf where it rested. "Or is it for your contact on the SOLCorp station?" "You're crazy." Nova said and folded her arms. "I think you should leave now." "I'm leaving," Ajax said, reaching into his pocket and retrieving the code-disk. "But on our way here, we picked up some code transmitted from a type-thirty-four. I think this will help us decipher it, don't you?" Nova sank into a couch of crimson velvet bolted to the deck and wiped away tears, angry tears. They meandered along unguided paths from quicksilver pools gathering at the edges of her eyelids down to her jaw, where some collected and continued their exploration of her neck. “You shit. I can’t believe this.” She pulled a tissue from a nearby receptacle and swiped her chin, then her cheeks and her nose. Glaring at him, she crumpled the flimsy sheet and pitched it against his tunic-jacket while he glared back. Ajax broke the lock he had on her eyes and stooped to collect the tissue ball where it landed. He looked left-and-right for a trash bin. With none evident, he tucked the ball into his pocket for later disposal. “You need to believe it. So who are the rest of your people? Don’t bother lying to me, you wouldn’t be in such an exposed position without support. I want some answers.” Ajax snapped and leaned forward into her personal space. Nova sat up rigid and turned away. Dark hair caught on her ear but concealed her face as she considered her options. “I’m beginning to lose my patience. Why don’t I just take this out and show it to Patch and his boys." Ajax said and shook the code-disk at her for emphasis. "We'll see what he has to think about this little dilemma you’re in.” That appeared to seal it. "Chuj. Kokot jeden pojebany." She said something in a language he didn't recognize but which dripped venom, then brushed the veil of dark hair aside with a sweep of her fingers. “Why don’t you just put a bullet in my head. I’ve worked on this operation for over a year and it gets blown in one day because some amateur jackass decides to become clever. Congratulations, jackass.” "I'm sorry you don't think I'm serious. If your cover is blown, it's because you got careless. The radio breaks down even further and is even easier to hide, which tells me that you've been waiting six years for someone to find it on your shelf. Good for me." Ajax said and offered her an indifferent shrug and carefully shuffled backwards toward the door. If Nova was an agent, she probably knew a dozen ways to kill with the towel she was wrapped up in. "What do you mean I don't think you're serious? You'd better be serious. Do you have any idea what you've gotten yourself into?" Nova said, shook her head, and heaved a disgusted sigh. "I'm not hearing any answers. Now you can talk to Patch, or you can talk to me," Ajax said. "You know what I'm here for, this is business, and I think exposing a spy who sleeps on the cushions next to him would convince Regent to give me what I came for. Don't you?" "Go to hell." Nova said as she went from seething to incensed and cast about for something with which to implement its release upon him. Book, comb, scissors, laser. Two sets of eyes settled on the same weapon, the long-barreled Blazer snapped into the holster on his belt. It rested on valence and Nova got there first. Ajax pulled up short when he found the beam emitter shoved in his face. "Jackass," Nova laughed. "Now give me back my codes." He slowly raised his hands and backed away. The pistol tracked him across the compartment and stopped when he felt the bolts around the viewport seal dig into his back. There was no place left to go. "I don't think so." Ajax said as he slipped the ROM cartridge into a trouser pocket. Nova stopped laughing. "I'm serious. I swear I'll kill you." She growled. "Oh, I'm sure you're serious," He said and crossed his arms behind his back. "I just hope you're a good shot." "Don't worry. I am." Nova spit words from between clenched teeth. "Stellar," Ajax said as he leaned back against the viewport and made a bet with his own reflection. She had to be EuroCon Intelligence. "Because I'd hate for you to miss and vent the whole compartment. So what are you? E-Con Intelligence?" "Zastita." She said after a moment. There was pride in that dark name. Ministvo Zastita. Ajax recalled. It was probably a lie, but he had heard the name from EuroCon troops during Procyon. The ministry of security for the Carpathian Republic. Zastita was the agency that the EuroCon had called on when a security problem needed to be dealt with quickly. The accounts he'd heard of their thorough professionalism were quiet affairs, started and finished in less than five minutes, no complications. He thought he had her pegged. "Then take your best shot. Let's see if you're a gambler. Ever tried Russian Roulette?" Ajax said, daring her to put her aptitude where her claims were and prove to both of them which ones were true. "Or does that make you Imperial Russian Security? I hear they make each of their agents spin the chamber before they graduate." Nova wavered as she remembered shouting her oath of service with her eyes squeezed shut and the heavy bore of a .44 caliber revolver against her temple. Her voice competed to out-match those of agent instructors circling around her, shouting back discouragement, feeding her cowardice, making the little voice that said being Zastita was not as important as her life ring even louder. The agency was built on the Imperial Russian model and her moment of truth came when she took a deep breath, shouted, "For the state and the people," and squeezed the trigger. When the hammer snapped down on an empty chamber she opened her eyes, blinked back tears of relief, and handed the pistol back to the Zastita director. The graduate next in line was not so lucky. The slam of a pistol shot jarred her as she stood at attention. The identity of the dead patriot on the floor beside her no longer mattered. All she knew was that fate had chosen her to be Zastita. She had felt invincible. After graduation the serious weapons training started and all she remembered about the Blazer like the one in her hand was that it had an intense discharge. It was possible that the beam might core through him and still have enough energy left to burn through the plexi-glass viewport. She itched to erase the grin etched on his face, but the Blazer only had three settings; off, low, and high. The "low" setting was only effective at close range, so she kept the beam-emitter centered on his chest and advanced. "You think that you're so god-damned smart. You think that you're so god-damned right. You are so wrong." Nova said. "If you don't give back my codes, you are still just as dead." "Well, now that you're little secret is out, you'll have to kill me anyway." Ajax said as he shook his head. "Like you said, business." Nova snarled. Smart men deserved honest answers. Nova had come across more than one smart man, and for the most part they already knew the answers to the questions they asked, those men were either dead or with her. She stared him down as she racked her brain for a reason to his obstinence. His pistol was in her hand and if he had another weapon it remained hidden. "People will ask questions if I don't show up to close the deal with the Regent." He said. His heartbeat quickened as he saw her cruel grin. Intuition told him he was about to get burned. "No they won't, not here, nobody cares here, especially not about you. When I space you, the Regent will deal with the next man in line, or just space you all and take your cargo with no deal. You've been lucky he hasn't done that already." She said, then stopped her advance when the hatch slid open and someone stepped through. "Nova?" The man froze when he saw that Nova had company. His name was Ivan and he was drunk. Ajax could smell Centauri Brandy from where he stood. Nova waved Ivan aside with the Blazer and swaggered to a situation in front of Ajax slightly further than just out of his reach. "I can't wait to see the look on your face when I put you out the airlock," Nova hissed as she leveled the pistol. "Jackass." When she squeezed the trigger nothing happened. "Check the battery charge. Green means good, red means bad." Ajax said and held up a boxy power-cell that he had pulled from the pocket the codes had gone into. Nova wavered, squeezed the trigger again, then inverted the pistol and checked the bottom of the grip for the power-cell. Her eyes widened when she saw the charge indicator blinking red/green. It still held a weak charge. She realized that she had taken her eyes off of him when she felt him coming. When her head dropped to check the grip, Ajax moved. When he stepped toward Nova, he tossed the battery to Ivan, who was distracted enough by its arc for the mechanism of its launch to make a move. By the time he looked back, Ajax and Nova were intertwined on the floor. Ajax tore the laser from her awkward grip while Ivan drew a compact sliver-gun from his belt and leveled an unsteady bead. "Drop it! Just drop it!" Ajax yelled, flicking the fire selector of the Blazer to the "off" setting and pressing the beam emitter against her head. Ivan hesitated while Nova struggled against his grip, but he held her firmly. She had been in micro-g for too long and he could feel her strength fading, a good thing. The Regent would not appreciate the loss of his favorite concubine. "Unless you want to see what this does to her on the high setting, I'd drop that shredder and kick it over here." Ajax said. "He's bluffing. Kill him." Nova screeched and tried to bite his arm. "I'm not bluffing. The only reason it didn't fire was because I had the trigger-lock on. Now it's off and if you don't drop that shredder and kick it over here, I'll fry her without another thought." Ajax said calmly, but with finality. Ivan looked confused but held his ground. "Ivan!" Nova wailed as she tightened her towel, took a breath, and resumed her struggle. "Think about it. If you've been assigned to guard her, the Regent will blame you for her death, now drop it." Ajax said firmly as he pulled Nova's head back by the hair and pressed in the Blazer until the beam emitter pushed up ripples in her cheek. Ivan raised his arms, shredder still in hand, then stooped and laid it on the floor. He wobbled as he stood but delivered a sweeping kick that sent the weapon spinning across the deck to where Ajax wrapped up Nova. She sprang away as he released her. A button under his thumb activated the power eject which dropped the battery in the Blazer. Ajax hastily dug out a fresh one and snapped it into place before Nova got her balance back. "You made the right decision." Ajax said as he checked the fire-selector, extended the pistol, and pulled the trigger. The beam emitter flashed like a lightning strike and Ivan crumpled with a groan, leaving the air in the compartment smelling faintly of Ozone. When his eyes cleared, Ajax heard Nova laughing. Death of the Regent "Well, well, sometimes even jackasses get lucky. Do you think that this makes you special?" Nova said as she picked herself up. "Do you want a prize?" "The truth would be nice. What's your real name, Major" Ajax said as he slowly got to his feet. "Nova sounds like the Regent's pet name for you." "You get nothing. You know too little already." She said mockingly. "I'll just have to work on assumptions then." He said and sucked at the furrows in his arms where she had clawed him. "And what are those, jackass?" She asked flippantly. Ajax was impressed. Even in defeat, she was defiant. "I'm assuming that these codes will allow me to decrypt the transmissions of yours that we intercepted and I'll be able to find my own answers. I'll be sure to thank the Regent for his hospitality." Ajax said and squeezed the trigger again. He watched the shocked, puzzled look on her face crumble as the energy burst from the Blazer delivered it effect. When she stopped twitching he popped the power-cell and checked the charge. The damn thing is nearly expended again. He thought and angrily shoved the power-cell back in. "No wonder these things are so cheap." He said to his reflection, then snapped the battery back into place and collected his pistol belt off, then returned the pistol to its holster. The pair would be out for ten minutes at most. When Ajax wrapped his arms around Ivan's chest and lifted, the man vomited, a foul stream of stomach acid and Centaurian Brandy that dribbled out of his mouth, down his chest, and onto the cuffs of Ajax's tunic-jacket. "Son-of-a-bitch!" Ajax slowly cursed as he got Ivan into the seat and looked for something to wipe up the mess with. Perfect. He thought as he separated Nova from her towel and used it to wipe up the mess. He found the shredder where it came to rest and replaced it on Ivan’s belt. When he put her to bed he took a moment to admire her beauty, wondered what she might have been like, then he buried her in overstuffed pillows and threw the towel into a large basket. Ajax stopped at her mirror and lifted a scarf that had caught his eye. He folded it into a square and put it to his nose, then he closed his eyes and took a gentle whiff. The smell of musky powder and her body brought a smile to his lips. He took it instead of her life. No wonder the Regent lets her get away with murder. He put the scarf in his pocket beside the code-disk, returned the radio to its place on the shelf, and visually swept the room one last time. If anyone were to come in, he hoped it would look like Ivan passed out in the chair while Nova slept on her cushions. He turned out the lights and went out the door. *** "What happened to you?" Ronnie asked when the hatch slid open and Ajax floated through. "I smell vomit. Was the Centaurian Brandy a bit strong?" "No, it was fine." Ajax said and examined the stain on his sleeve. "Too much for her then?" "Don't get me started on her." Ronnie pushed his glasses up and smiled. "Really?" He said. "Has Mister Clean met his match?" "I know why she's called Nova." Ajax said and slipped his arms out of his jacket. The blood on his sleeve from her scratches raised an eyebrow. "She's explosive." Ronnie pulled an automatic wrench from his toolbox and applied it to bolts securing the casing of the #8 surge buffer. While the Bonventure was docked, he threw in with the host crew of the Manchester Star and helped with the problems at the top of their list. "Most servants are," He said and slipped his boots through the foot-straps attached to the deck. "And if they aren’t, they're not much good, are they?" "I said don't get me started," Ajax said and pulled the code-disk out of his pocket. "What's this?" Devolte said and caught the thrown chip. "Maybe nothing," Ajax said and floated toward his cabin. "Run it anyway. Maybe it's the key to some answers we've been looking for." *** UM-3/Avalon “Sir, where’s the third platoon area?” The billet officer also sat radio watch. The LT took off her headset and rubbed her eyes. She was younger than Kray but looked worn. “C sector, Kray. I don’t want to hear any sniveling, either.” “Wasn’t there a sighting down there tonight?” He said. Taylor gave him a hard look once before turning back to her comm-station. She still had another four hours on duty. “At least it’s dry.” "No sewage but slimy things with tentacles instead." Kray said and squeezed his helmet back onto his head. "Got it, sir. Let’s go boys.” At that point, Kray would have curled up in a week-old pool of human waste next to a rotting corpse if it meant he could get some sleep, but he was at least 80% certain that it did would come to that. "Why do we gotta have slimy things with tentacles here?" Kray muttered to himself. C sector was a series of tunnels nearly a mile from the command center, underneath what used to be an industrial park. Soldiers, grouped by squads, filled the long tunnels. Kray and his men stepped over or around the sleeping, huddled forms. There were some civilians around, trying to eke out some semblance of life amid the ruins. They did what they could to help the effort, scavenging for food or material and scouting out places where the soldiers, with their heavy combat loads, could not go. They dragged away wounded troopers after a fight, sometimes picking up fallen weapons and filling in holes during critical moments untrained as they were. Civilian doctors and nurses manned the aid stations and field hospitals, but mostly the non-combatants stayed underground and tried as best they could to get by. The groups began to thin out the further away form the command HQ they got. Eventually, Kray found an unused tunnel branching off the main line, going back thirty yards before ending at a ferrocrete plug. The main line went on for another hundred yards before two automated sentry guns, one of them a flame-thrower, marked the beginning of no-man’s-land. “All right, we’re home,” Kray said. The sound of rucksacks hitting the ground simultaneously was drowned out by the sighs of weary men. Kray unsnapped his sleep-pack and laid it out, using his rucksack as a pillow. He hung his small, halogen lantern on one of the loops drilled into the ceiling by the engineers and unbuckled his boots. “Ahh, Jesus that feels good.” The load bearing webbing and the rest of the combat gear came off next. Thus unencumbered, Kray dug a meal packet out and settled in for breakfast. It was beef teriyaki, scalloped potatoes, and a small bar of chocolate from a case of civilian camping rations that Rumor Control had found in the remains of a discount store. It was dried to the point of removing all moisture from the mouth and took a whole canteen of water to wash down, but it was better than the standard issue ration bars or the mystery dishes prepared by the army cooks. Noone made jokes about the food tasting like Duggar meat anymore. It probably was. Meal done, Kray crawled into his sleep-pack and tried to relax. Something was nagging at him as he drifted to sleep. Reaching to his side, he felt the familiar and comforting form of his M-32 assault rifle, but that was not it. Beside it was a weapon even more important. The flamer pistol that no soldier was to be in the sewers without. Harley, he was happy to see, was on the other end. He passed the incinerator down until he saw it in Harley's hands, then he allowed himself to pass fitfully into slumber. *** Wolf 359 Tanker rendezvous: H-15 hours "The Regent has considered your proposal, Utbird." Patch said solemnly as the Regent looked on behind him. "You have negotiated in good faith and now we agree to your bargain." "Speaking for my employers, we are most grateful." Ajax said and swept the crowd, Nova was not there, nor was Ivan. Something was up, he could feel it. Because of his slip, the Regent knew that he was being set up, Ajax was sure of it. Everything seemed too perfect. "You have your orders and your destination!" Patch bellowed at the assembled corsairs. "Go forth and prove your honor!" The command acted as a catalyst and the control compartment became chaotic. The crews of the pirate ships hard-docked to the collars around the planetoid raced for their vessels. Patch brought up a shipping display and they watched as the pirate ships were readied and uncoupled. "The first ship to make jump gets first share of any takings." Patch confided as Ajax watched the first one, the corsair Death's-Head, break away. Death's-Head had carried the RAM-shuttles to assault Manchester Star. The crew of that one seemed particularly sharp, for vacuum-trash. So much the better that they be the first ones to reach Tau Ceti. Ajax thought as he watched the others power their drives and make for their irregular, "pirate" jump-points, still in the deep outer system but away from the more frequently patrolled areas where they might be spotted. There might be several ships waiting to jump and rule #1 in the unwritten mercantile code was that pirates get attacked upon identification by every ship in the area. "Your people handle their craft very well." Ajax said as the last one reported being underway. The Regent nodded as Patch stepped away. "They must," The Regent said. "For they know that they are the hunted. Only the most cunning survive to become the hunters." "And what most one survive to become Regent?" Ajax said and folded his arms. He had only a few hours left before the Manchester Star embarked for rendezvous with the tanker. "Doubt." The Regent said. Ajax nodded. Being a SkyFall pilot during the Octavian Crisis, insecurity about his talents and the ruggedness of his F/A-300 had been as mortal an enemy as the Octavian air-defense systems. "Did my Nova entertain you? Is she not a magnificent creature?" Ajax shifted and pasted a smile on his lips. He had thought over and over about how he would respond, something dodgy seemed the best. "Truly," Ajax said and clasped his hands behind him so that the Regent would not see them shake. "The Regent must enjoy difficult women." The Regent grinned, then he giggled, then he erupted in belly-shaking laughter. Patch and the rest of his henchmen joined in until the whole compartment echoed with mirth. It died down when the Regent stopped laughing and wiped his eyes. "A lesson for you," The Regent said, face flushed. "They are not so difficult once they have been properly humbled." "Indeed," Ajax said, agreeing though the Regent's methods were not his own. "But once that you take their fire, would you agree that something more is lost, in spirit?" "Do not concern yourself, Utbird," The Regent said. "They are only women, useful for warming beds and when there is no brandy to be consumed." "The Regent has great wisdom," Ajax said. "But I must take my leave. There is a tanker waiting to fuel us and it will not wait for long." "Then go," The Regent said. "And do not doubt that we will have your prize to deliver to you." Without another word, Ajax left, feeling their eyes on his back until he went though the hatch. Over the past three days, the pirates had become accustomed to seeing him and his performance during the blood-feud had earned him at least their indifference. He became aware that he had an escort at approximately the same time he heard a voice. "Why didn't you turn me in?" Nova whispered. Ajax stopped to face her. She was dressed plainly in baggy clothes of dull colors, looking nothing at all like the woman he remembered from only hours before, a hood over her head. "The Regent had already agreed to our bargain." Ajax said and folded his arms. "Besides, whoever sent you here must've had a reason. I needed to do business with the Regent, nothing else. Your purpose here is your business." "The codes," Nova said and twisted her head left and right to scan for watchers. "I must have my codes back to communicate with my controllers." "Take it." Ajax said and rummaged in his pocket until he found the small chip. She accepted it and, in a flash, had it stored in one of the folds in her clothing. Ajax was jolted by the body of another pirate trying to push past him, one who stopped long enough to glare at him and then at Nova, who ducked her head and pocketed the disk “There’s another reason I came here,” Ajax continued. “I’m looking for a man named Argent. Have you met anyone by that name?” “Why do you seek this man?” Nova said and immediately Ajax knew he’d asked the right question. “He has information we need,” Ajax said. “His contract with his company is up. We were sent to collect him. This deal with the Regent, all this, is only for one reason. To find Argent and remove him.” “Argent is not here,” Nova said and guided him out of the path that the Regent’s pirates used to move in and out of the shuttle bay. “I was with him on Octavia but he sent me here. He knew that you would come for him. I am to take his place. I have secrets he entrusted to me.” “Like what?” Ajax said. “The cure for Serenity poisoning.” Nova said. Ajax shook his head. “There’s no such thing.” *** UM-4/ Avalon The first sounds of trouble came two hours later. Kray, and every other man in the squad, woke abruptly to the clashing sound of automatic weapons fire and shell casings clattering off the hard, sewer walls. Had the men been sleeping in the main tunnel, the noise would have been deafening. As it was, simply clapping hands over heads kept the noise to an ear-ringing minimum. Kray pulled on his boots and watched as Harley took action. Silence reigned after something toppled the sentry gun in the main line. Harley leaned into the tunnel to have a look at the commotion. “Smleck!” He said and fumbled desperately to light the pilot on the flamer pistol. With a snap, a small spark lit the gas jet primer and Harley let fly with a thirty-foot tongue of flame. Kray had buckled his boots and grabbed his M-32 when Harley let loose. A near ultra-sonic scream pierced the dark sewer and something, ignited by the flamer, retreated back down the main tunnel taking the dim light of its flaming body with it. Upon further investigation, Kray found the flame-throwing sentry gun smashed and leaking. The other was knocked over and covered with a trail of slime. When asked what he saw, Harley could only shake. “It was big.” Harley said and unable to sleep, he volunteered to stand watch for another shift, then another. By the time exhaustion overwhelmed him, Harley, Kray and all the other men were having the same disturbing though: somehow the slimy things with tentacles had gotten smart. *** Wolf 359 Tanker Rendezvous: H-10 hours Ajax watched the Midgard colony recede until it disappeared against the blackness of the starfield. The Manchester Star moved at only a fraction of the relativistic velocity her engines were capable of imparting, but the colony was deep in the system and little of the light from the primary star reflected from the surface. Another hour and the freighter would be clear of the asteroid field around the planetoid. The hatch hummed open behind him. "Saying goodbye to our business partners?" Ronnie said as he came through and braced himself against the micro-gravity provided by the engine thrust. "I'd've thought you'd be happy to put that place behind you, considering you had the most to lose. My report will reflect your stellar performance." "Then I'll expect a raise after my next evaluation." Ajax said and scanned the stars for clues to the dread he felt, ever since Nova had stopped him in the corridor, but he was relieved as well. Midgard 3 had become a black well of despair that he was escaping, a place that might have lurked beneath the 110-level of the DeepCore. "Don't worry about that," Ronnie said. "Once we reach Avalon and make our reports, you'll have your raise and most likely a posting to wherever you like. The company rewards performers, you know." "Yeah," Ajax said and searched his own face for answers. "What about the ones who do their jobs day-after-day, working around the scum of heaven and earth? They never get any kind of award or promotion, their bosses don't even talk to them, yet they keep the faith that one day they're gonna get the call. What about them?" "What's that?" Ronnie said. "You're not coming down with space-madness are you? We have some pills in the infirmary if you need them." "It's not that." Ajax said. "I guess I'm just tired." "You ought to be," Ronnie said. "I'm surprised that you've made it this long." Ajax nodded and picked Orion out of the starfield, his favorite constellation, it was inverted, but something was not right. There was an extra star beneath the belt, where the Midgard colony would have been if it were visible. The pinpoint of light expanded and grew brighter as each millisecond past. The beam of an energy weapon flashed by the freighter like neon taffy stretched past and then snapped away. "What in blazes was that?" Devolte said, shocked that the beam was intense enough to bathe his body in an orange glow. "Midgard Three has surface defenses," Ajax said quietly. He had gotten to know the ones on Octavia very well. "And we're still in range of them." "Well, what do you think they want?" Devolte said, confusion wrinkling his forehead and chin. Ajax withheld his answer as the "attention all-hands" tone played from the speakers hidden throughout the ship. "Ajax Ajax, please report to main control. Ajax Ajax, please report to main control." Ajax looked Devolte hard in the eyes as the zero-G alarm sounded and he floated away from the deck. The engines had been stopped. "We're receiving a message from Midgard Three," Captain Glower said as Ajax floated through the hatch into the control deck. The cannon shot had delivered another kind, one that said stop and listen. "It was transmitted on a regular UHF signal so it's a little weak. It's the Regent, he wants to talk to you." "Did he say what he wanted?" Ajax said and tried to shake out the ominous itch working its way up his spine. Glower shook his head. "Let's hope he just wanted to say bon voyage." "He could've done that without firing a shot alongside." Glower muttered to himself and motioned for the radioman to put the signal through. Ajax took several deep breaths and positioned himself before a vid-com to face the Regent once more. The screen fuzzed and the Regent appeared. "We got a signal lock, sir," The radioman called back from his station. "Go ahead." "I am here, Regent," Ajax said. "I understand that you have a message for me?" "Yes, Utbird," The Regent said slowly, his voice even and inscrutable. "There are a few minor details left unresolved. I must ask that you return to us again." "I assure you that my employers will find our agreement valid and fulfill their terms of the contract." Ajax said, hoping that the signal degradation from transmission to reception would hide his shaking voice. "I must insist." The Regent said in a grave voice. The jocularity of the previous night was gone. He had known all along that the deal was a sham, Ajax was sure, and had waited until the last possible moment to call him on it, letting him feel relief that he had escaped before snapping closed the jaws of despair. "I must confer with my superiors a moment, Regent," Ajax said, feeling the blood drain from his face and into his sinuses, a severe headache was coming on rapidly. The radioman hit the "mute" button on the vid-com before the Regent could respond. Ajax looked around the bridge at the faces he saw staring back at him. All of them had been eavesdropping and a few of them looked scared. "Captain?" Ajax said when he found got to Glower, seated in his command chair. He needed the man's guidance, wanted alternatives, any alternative. The gruff old sailor folded his arms and looked away, took a deep breath, and looked back. There was understanding in his eyes. Glower knew what would happen if Ajax went back to Midgard 3. Death of the Regent "I won't order you to go, you did more than anyone expected you could," Glower said softly. "But I got three-hundred people on this ship to look after. You do what you feel is right." Ajax nodded as his heart sank. There were no alternatives. He put on a mask of indifference and reopened communications with the Regent. "Apologies for keeping you waiting, great Regent," Ajax said. "I am on my way. However, our ship is running low on fuel and our tanker will not wait. Once I arrive, I must insist that our ship receive unhindered passage." "How will you return to it, Utbird?" The Regent said. "These last negotiations may run longer than expected." "The ship's boat will suffice for transport." Ajax said. Bonventure would do much more than suffice. "Agreed." The Regent said and the vid-com went blank. The compartment was silent. "Once I reach Midgard Three, you get this ship out of here as fast," Ajax said. "There's no guarantee that the Regent'll keep his word." "I will," Glower said and reached out to clasp Ajax's forearm. "What're you gonna do?" "I'll keep him busy as long as I can," Ajax said. "Then I'll head straight for Avalon." "Right," Glower said. He could see that Ajax had no idea how he was going to do it. "If you're still at the Avalon office when we get there, we'll have a night on the town you'll never forget." "Deal." Ajax said and could think of nothing else so he pushed off toward the open hatch and floated out. Ronnie took the news even less well than Glower had. *** "Okay," Ajax said as Midgard 3 grew larger outside the forward window. Ronnie sat crammed into the navigator seat next to him. "I'm going in alone. I want you to seal that hatch once I go out and fry anyone that tries to get in without identifying themselves, you got it?" "I understand," Ronnie said. "But I still don't see why you insist on seeing the Regent again. Let's just do a touch and go." "We can't," Ajax said as he entered commands into the navigation computer. "They'd shoot the Manchester Star to pieces." "I'm picking up the landing beacon," Devolte said. "So what the devil are we supposed to do if you don't come back?" "I've programmed the nav computer for the quickest route to Avalon." Ajax said. "If I'm not back in two hours, you bring the Oracle online and get out of here." "That's a fine plan," Ronnie said. He was angry with the predicament he was in. "But what happens if the navigation computer goes down?" Ajax laughed as the RCS fired to align the ship with the landing pad. The cabin vibrated as the lift engines fired, slowing the Bonventure for landing. "What's so funny?" Ronnie said. "This is no time for jokes." "Nothing," Ajax said as he watched the ground come rushing up, the pad was clear of obstacles and debris. Bonventure touched down right over the yellow cross marking the center of the pad, settling on its tricycle landing gear. The pad sat atop an immense, tracked crawler, which came to life with blinking warning lights as it began moving towards the nearest docking collar. In less than a minute, sealing ring met ring and the Bonventure was secured to Midgard 3. Ajax uncoupled his harness and slid out from under the instrument panel. "Remember, seal the hatch." Ajax said. "And if you're not back within two hours," Ronnie said. "We're gone." "Right," Ajax said as he stepped over the center console. "I'll see you soon." "Bonventure to Manchester Star," Ronnie called as he dialed the proper channel into the radio. "Bonventure is down safely. Continue your egress, over." *** "I am here, Regent." Ajax said as the guards released his arms. They had already confiscated his Blazer and he carried nothing else. He straightened his flight-suit and clasped his arms behind his back. The Regent, usually placid, looked angry, Patch and the Regent's bodyguards reflected the Regent's displeasure, and they were all looking at him. "Explain to us why your man saw fit to disable our long-range radio," The Regent said, resting forward on the arms of his chair and frowning over folded hands. "Such treachery while we offered you our hospitality is an insult." "I don't understand," Ajax said. "I, nor any of my crew, would do such a thing." "We have witnesses who saw that they saw someone leaving the communications room," The Regent said, eyes glinting with anger like hard flint. "Someone thin. Your man Devolte meets this description and was seen leaving before the feast was concluded." "Only because he had to prepare our ship for departure." Ajax said, wondering if Ronnie had been given special orders before they left Horseman Station. "Noone in my clan has reason to disable our radio," The Regent said. "Perhaps you can tell us who would?" "I don't know." Ajax said. "We shall see." The Regent said and waved his guards forward. They roughly grabbed Ajax by the arms, then the overhead lights in the compartment went out. "Find out what is going on, now." The Regent ordered. "Yes, my Regent." Patch said and shouldered his way through the crowd of guards and through the open hatch. The guards stopped, and a few were muttering in alarm when the emergency lights snapped on, bathing them all in a harsh white light that was momentarily blinding. Ajax heard the door of something creaking as it was slowly opened and closed, then a quiet grunt. As his eyes adjusted, he could see a commotion around the Regent's chair. They were engaged in a scuffle with someone, Ajax could just make out who it was. The person was thin, dressed in something dark, and wore a dark hood that obscured the head and all of the face except for the eyes. A guard landed a solid punch and the figure groaned. The person was a woman, he could tell by her voice, it had to be Nova. She spun to face her assailant and dropped gracefully into a low Wushu stance. The guard swung again but she was ready. She blocked the punch with a forearm and delivered a spear-hand strike to his solar-plexus as fast as lighting. His knees buckled and he went down clutching his chest, sucking for air. With the same momentum, Nova snapped her arm back and smashed her fist into another moving up behind her, who cried out as his nose crunched beneath her knuckles. There were only three men left between her and the Regent. They were big, but they seemed taken aback by the fury with which Nova attacked. Nova paused, as if considering the three. When the first one moved, so did she, leaping at him and delivering a flying kick that whipped the man's head around, dropping him to the ground with the nauseating crackle of a neck breaking. The next one in line was more lucky, when he squared off against her she snapped a kick to his groin. He bellowed in pain and crouched down as Nova struck again with a roundhouse kick that smashed into the side of his head. Only one left now. "Aid me!" The Regent said, bellowing at the few that still held Ajax in their grips. Without hesitation they released him and rushed the diaz the Regent sat upon, drawing their weapons, but they were too late. Steel flashed as Nova drew a knife from a scabbard strapped to her thigh. She pounced on the Regent and brought the blade to his throat. The guards pulled up short. "Get back." Nova said, her hair spilling over her face as she pulled the mask off and the Regent to his feet. "I said get back!" "Do as she says." The Regent said and the guards backed away. Ajax picked up his pistol belt from where they had dropped it and closed it around his waist. "What are you doing?" Ajax said and stepped into the open area the guards had created for her to get by. "You blew my cover, pig," Nova said to him as she walked the Regent towards the hatch. She was winded and sucked in air. "Now you're getting me out of here." "Then let's go." Ajax said as he let her pass, then followed her out. The guards remained in place, as if unsure that they knew what else to do. The corridor was black, save for the emergency lights glowing at regular intervals down the length of it, and empty as far as Ajax could see. He turned right and led them off toward the landing bay. "You disabled their radio?" Ajax said as he felt his way along. The landing bay was directly ahead, four hundred feet to freedom. "Yes," Nova said as she tightened her arm around the Regent's throat. "I knew this fool would suspect you and call you back. Thank you for waiting." "You will both die the death of a thousand cuts," The Regent said, croaking out words. "Or perhaps I will take a joint at a time starting with your hands, then your feet. It will not be quick." "Silence, toad." Nova said, hissing in the Regent's ear. "You are fortunate that you still live, I have much to repay you for." Ajax stopped as he heard sounds from behind them. The guards had decided to act and were streaming out of the command chamber in pursuit. "Here, let me," Ajax said as he took the Regent by the hair and forced him into a trot, he could tell Nova was getting tired. Three hundred feet and they would be safe. "What's your real name?" "Mila," She said. "Mila Jagerova." “Thanks." "I owe you at least that much." The Regent was heavy and Ajax was getting tired of dragging him along. Two hundred feet to go. "When I count to three, I'm going to drop the Regent and we're going to run for it. Are you ready?” Ajax loosened his grip on the Regent just as a large shadow stepped into the corridor from a dark alcove, holding a splinter pistol aimed dead-center mass. Ajax skidded to a halt. Mila almost send him sprawling as she ran into him. It was Patch, he had been laying in wait. The Regent pulled out of his hold and started laughing. "I will not give you a second opportunity, Utbird," The Regent said between giggles. "Kill them." "Wait, wait," Ajax said and threw out his hands, bracing for the shocking pain of needler rounds chewing into his flesh. "You don't have to do this." No sympathy appeared in Patch's single eye and the shredder he carried remained level. "The Regent has ordered your death, Utbird." Patch said, his gravely voice echoing off of the metal grating and flush-riveted plates the corridor was constructed of, like in a mausoleum. "That's because the Regent has lost face," Ajax said. He had only seconds left with which to work magic. "I saw how you reacted when we closed the deal. You never approved of it, did you?" "No," Patch said and his lips twisted into a snarl. "The Regent approved it over my objections." "Then perhaps it is time for a new Regent." Ajax said, watching Patch for the slightest reaction. His face grew even darker. "You are a devil," Patch said and spat. "And you offer something that is not yours to give." "Not mine to give," Ajax said slowly. "But yours to take. It is your way, the old Regent knows this, why else would he have made you his right hand?" Patch said nothing, but did not squeeze the trigger on the shredder. His snarl had relaxed into a frown and Ajax could see thinking going on behind his eye. "You don't need me, it would only allow the old Regent to save face and put off the inevitable," Ajax said. "You may not get another opportunity like this for some time. Use this to take your rightful place." Patch glowered down at him and Ajax was suddenly aware of the loud thump of his pounding heart. "Enough of this," The Regent said, suddenly serious. "I ordered you to kill them." Patch held his fire, still thinking. "Who is this fat, old man that speaks to me?" Patch said. The Regent looked shocked, then furious. "Kill them now and perhaps I will forgive your disobedience." The Regent said. Without a word, Patch swung the splinter-gun around and drew a bead on the Regent, who had time to gasp. Patch pulled the trigger at the same time Ajax felt a hand on his shoulder and Mila pulled his Blazer from its holster. The shredder buzzed and the front of the Regent's shirt erupted in blood, gibbets of flesh, and shredded cloth as a thousand shards of ballistic plastic tore into his chest at Mach One. Ajax could see the barrel of the Blazer in his peripheral vision, steadied on his shoulder and pointed straight at Patch, who snorted and half-grinned when he saw it. "Leave here and never return," Patch said. "Should we meet again, there will be no talking." The hulking pirate dropped the shredder to his side and turned on his heel. He stopped before he had taken ten steps. "And take this, thing, with you," Patch said over his shoulder. "She no longer has a place here." "Let's go," Ajax said quietly once Patch had resumed walking. "Follow me and stay close, watch our backs, it's not much further." He moved rapidly to the docking hatch and pressed his thumb down on the green switch beside it. The locking mechanism was old, older than he was, and it took nearly a minute of grinding and screeching for the hatch to roll into the wall. When he laid his hand on the cold alloy skin of the Bonventure, his heart stopped thumping quite so hard. He punched in his command code and the outer hatch on the ship slid open. Ajax led Nova into the airlock and keyed the inner hatch. "Let 'em have it!" Ajax heard someone cry from the inside and his instincts took immediate control. He dove to the deck, pulling Mila down with him. The sound of Blazers being triggered followed the shout, but the beams from them passed harmlessly over his head. "Ronald!" Ajax shouted as Mila growled and struggled to roll away. "What the hell is going on here?" "Cease fire, cease fire," Devolte said and poked his head up over the makeshift barricades that they had erected in front of the hatch. He adjusted his heavy glasses and smiled down at him. "Sorry, old man, we though you were one of them." Three more of the engineering team had been taking cover behind the storage crates they had tied down and stacked into something resembling a modular wall. Each wore corrective lenses as thick or thicker than the ones Ronnie wore and most held the Blazers in untrained, two-handed grips. Ajax stood and scanned behind him at the still open hatch for threats, then brought his fist down on the red button beside the airlock and the inner hatch hummed to a close. "It's good to see that the crew loves their captain so." Mila said as she picked herself up. "What's she doing here?" Ronnie said and frowned, waving at Mila with the barrel of the pistol. "I'll explain later," Ajax said and maneuvered past the barricade towards the flight deck. "Get this krudge stowed and man departure stations, we're getting out of here." "It's about feking time," Ronnie said, giving Ajax pause in his travel. The Chief Engineer was not usually one for profanity. "You're plan was good." He heard Mila coo as brushed by Ronnie. "Next time, aim lower." ***