Archives of the Frontier Universe: An Assassin's Assignment (12 page)

“Hmm, I wonder why they would’ve been ordered to do that?” mumbled Meyer. “Anyways, did you find the code yet?”

Rose was navigating through the various prompts as quickly as she could. “Not yet,” she whispered. “It actually is probably not even in this computer. It may be on them personally, or not recorded anywhere at all.” She threw her head. “I hope they plan to provide it, because I don’t have the patience to wait.”

“Oh, man,” expressed Meyer in a dreary tone. “You’re going to torture them?”

“Fortunately for them, that decision is theirs,” Rose returned unemotionally. “Yes, there doesn’t seem to be anything in here except information related to their schedules. Whatever, guess I’ll just slay two of them and force the last to give me the code.” She began exiting the programs, when she heard a door open inside the adjacent room. Another two voices entered the conversation, but sounded much more civil.

“
Ah, good!
” said another man in a welcoming tone. “
Two of you are here.
” It sounded like the man was addressing the two Eiltheen but was not Eiltheen himself. “
We’ve come to personally hand off some new intel we’ll be discussing in the next session. Sorry it is so late, but the other officials felt it necessary to deliver this intel personally. Are we interrupting something?
”

“Perfect!” spat Rose lowly. “There’re even
more
people here now.”

“
Oh, no
,” replied the Forcurrian traitor. “
I was actually just leaving. I’ll see you all tomorrow morning
.” The door opened again, and the man walked out.

Not able to hear them, Meyer began asking questions. “Are they in league with our disloyal friends? What’re they doing anyways?”

“Passing along intel,” Rose said sort of irritably. “And no, it doesn’t appear that they’re part of their defection-oriented activities. And unfortunately, the Forcurrian left. Looks like I get to track him down after all.” She left the computer terminal and scanned the open room for a place to wait them out. There were many pieces of furniture, and even the thick window drapes would conceal her from most directions. However, after looking to the stretching ceiling, she spotted a perch much more promising: a decorative ledge built high over the doorway, sort of like a large fireplace mantle. “Well, at least I’m inside,” she expressed as a consolation. “The other two are actually staying here, so all I need to do is wait.” She squatted and then sprang up onto the ledge. She landed softly, even in heels and sat down, listening. “It sounds like they’ll be leaving soon. I should be safe up here until they come in, but one of them just mentioned other tenants. If I’m hearing them right, there are two other representatives in this unit.”

For a long moment, the captain paused. “What’re you going to do?”

Though she agreed completely that those complicit in defecting from the Court should be terminated, Rose sympathized for the ones caught in the middle. “I don’t know,” she breathed. “If they’re a part of this betrayal . . .” She left the line incomplete. “I’m not sure right now. I’ll try to find out their level of involvement.”

“Good idea,” praised Meyer. “It could be none at all. Our mission is not to cripple the Court from this angle. We want the assassinations to seem calculated and purposeful. Boss R thinks it’ll throw the Court off. Make them think it could’ve been a domestic feud that progressed to violence. If an assassin was really able to access their hotel unit, why not kill them all, you know?”

“That
does
seem wise,” accepted Rose. However, in the next room, she heard the visitors departing. “Hold on, I think the others are leaving.”

Even before she anticipated, the door to the unit shut, and silence filled the air. It was short lived, though, as at once the two Eiltheen were moving. Suddenly, they opened the door directly below Rose and walked in quickly.

“That was close,” said one. “I really wish they would’ve simply sent this intel to our computers. They could’ve been listening in the entire time!”

“I doubt it,” put the other. “If they heard anything, they would’ve probably not have come in, and just reported us.” They both walked into view towards an open counter. The man who held the intel set it down and rubbed his head. “Should we leave the other copies out here? They wanted us to pass them on to the other two.”

“They should be asleep by now. I wouldn’t bother them.” The man shook his head, and Rose silently inched forward to see them both. “I think we should’ve just stayed out of this. Can you believe what happened to the Vicese?”

“No, I can’t,” replied the other, shaking his head. “That Loene must’ve killed them. She betrayed us all. And why do I feel like she’ll be coming for us next?”

“Perhaps, you’re intuition is just that good!” announced Rose with a smile. They both spun around as if she had pinched their aft ends, but with a terror she had never inspired with such an action.

The first to speak, the leader, was already trembling. “Y-you!” he nearly squeaked. “Traitor! Murderer!”

Ignoring the trifling name-calling, Rose peered back critically from behind her glasses, but still with a smirk. “But I actually doubt it,” she continued, ignoring him. “You’d have folded your treacherous hands if intuition had anything to do with it. ‘Fear’ is a more accurate description . . . and perhaps conscience.” She stood to full height, still not touching the actual ceiling, and beamed. “Kind of your leader to let you take the fall for him. If you tell me where I can find him, I’ll make this quick for you.” She stepped to the very edge of the perch.

Upon seeing this, both men retreated a step, putting hands on their weapons. “Spare us your patronizations!” snapped the second man, who’d apparently been inspired to intimidate. He stared back in hatred, contrived confidence bleeding from his very soul. “We’ve heard the reports of your pitiful little base. The entire force was wiped out! Or captured.”

Rose couldn’t help but laugh at his erroneous report. “Ha ha ha!” she giggled, bending in feigned entertainment. “Evidently, you were misinformed,” she declared, looking at her own body and then back. She then paced left, sort of nearing them.

The man tightened his scowl. “Allow me set the record straight then!” Instead of the sword at his side, which Rose expected, he drew a concealed pistol. Without even thinking, apparently, he pointed the weapon and fired it three times.

Ripping her right arkanverre into her left hand, Rose hacked the first soaring green shard away. The second and third were already upon her though. Rapidly switching tactics, she moved at superhuman speed further to the left. The shards penetrated the wall behind her, but before the man could fire again, she dove for the floor. Pointing in a panic, the man shot desperately at Rose, only to miss. She landed atop him, throwing him clean off his feet and into the wall behind. She promptly used telekinesis to disarm him, but the other was already coming at her with a blade. Slicing for her head, the man lunged. She ducked under his weapon with ease and punched him in the stomach. As the man doubled over, the first stood, drew his own ordinary sword, and charged.

Rose backed up and kicked a table into the aggressor she punched, forcing him out of the way. The first, however, slashed ruthlessly for her midsection, but she blocked. Driven by anger (or even more desperation, she could not tell), he swung back and forth. All strikes missed as Rose gracefully danced around him.

“There’s clearly no brain in your heads at all!” she laughed, leisurely clashing swords. “Even ‘ten’ of you couldn’t hope to match a posteritor!” She blocked a low swing and stepped back, avoiding another. The leader representative made to advance, but the other finally joined the fight.

“We’ll see about that, you treacherous . . .” Not even completing the insult, the man threw himself at Rose’s side. He held his steel sword high and brought it down like a hammer. Rose turned towards him and redirected the gray blade by just the simple inches necessary. Slamming into the rug, the Eiltheen’s blade vibrated the nearby furniture.

The other man rushed in to take advantage of Rose’s exposed right; however, she lifted her right hand, extended her harpoon upon it, and blocked . . . just effortlessly. Still trying to exploit her scant room to maneuver, both representatives swung again. She flipped over both swords, landing in the same exact spot, but turned around. When the enemy weapons flew again, she blocked the leader’s sword with her own and the other’s with her harpoon. “Now, aren’t we pathetic?!” she mused with delight. She blocked a sword with her arkanverre again, but simply held the lock with the man on her harpoon blade. Looking at him first, she offered her bargain. “Tell you what: You give me the code to that damn spike, and I’ll not make you suffer.” Staring the man right in the eyes, she used her power to sense and block the subsequent strikes from the other man. “Do we have a deal?”

“Ridiculous!” cursed the man, as he pressed against her harpoon. “It won’t be long until security gets here! The others should be up by now.”

As if summoned by his speculation, Rose heard footsteps approaching the door. Time was running out. “Have it your way then!”

She lifted a leg and back-kicked the Eiltheen behind her, throwing him on the floor. Next, she pushed the man on her harpoon off, vastly overpowering even the leverage of both his arms. When he approached to slash again she darted in, slicing a crippling gash into his shins. The man dropped with a howl, only to fall directly on her harpoon. She commanded the device to transform into a jagged arrowhead inside him, and then knocked him on the floor. Stepping calmly past him, she withdrew part of the harpoon’s wire, brought it over her head, and swung the man from the ground and into the window. Though incredibly thick, the pane cracked severely. The man hit the floor like a stone, hacking and choking on blood.

Behind her, the leader Eiltheen had already jumped to his feet and was making for the door. Rose seized several pieces of furniture and piled them in front of the exit, thwarting his escape. She then conjured a bright red energy on the outside of the cracked window and slammed it into the pane. Spilling all over her grounded victim, the shards cut his face in several spots. The wind from outside picked up, catching Rose’s hair and the bottom of her skirt. The Eiltheen on the ground was whimpering and rocking in agony.

Keeping part of her senses on the other man, she stepped forward, standing over her suffering victim. “No one’s coming to save you, you damn pushover!” she said in ridicule. “Now . . . the code and your leader! Or you can take your chances with the tarmac!”

“
Who’s in there!
” yelled someone through the door. She looked towards them, seeing the other Eiltheen desperately trying to move the furniture “
Open the door! This is security!
” From the muffled sounds of the guard’s yells, it was apparent that they could not hear Rose herself—a strategic plus for her. She looked back.

“Come on now!” she insisted. “They’re not getting in anytime soon. You have three seconds!” Using her power, she slid the man closer to the ledge. “One!” she began. However, something unexpected happened. Faster than she anticipated, the man’s squirming slowed and then ceased altogether. He was dead. Pointing her eyebrows in minor disappointment, she retracted her dripping harpoon from his chest. “Hmm. Pushover indeed!”

“
By order of Court Security, open this door!
” commanded the guard.

Rose turned for the other man and approached. Panicking, he rushed behind a sofa—presumably to try and outrun her until security broke in. Finding his desperate maneuver genuinely comical, she stood and smiled. “Now, really. You can’t sincerely think you’re getting away?” She launched her right foot forward, kicking the sofa across the floor. It impacted on him squarely, throwing him to the ground. Following her prey, Rose flipped over the sofa and landed atop him, her harpoon penetrating the flat edge of his sword and impaling his stomach.

The man squirmed in pain, grasping for the wound. “You cruel . . . BITCH!” he huffed, barely able to articulate the words. Rose lifted her free arm and extended the harpoon to his neck. His face was generously sweating.

“Please,” she sort of begged intolerantly. “No more games, no more names. Tell me what I want to know. As a matter of fact,
one
more name please. Just give me your leader. I’ll extract what I need from
him
!”

Unbelievably, instead of the pleading or last-minute lines of bravery, the man laughed. Laughed through the dripping blood on his lips. Almost like a maniac. Rose made to stab him as a warning, but he spoke just in time. “Him?” he choked, laughing even more. “Idiot! You don’t even know what you’re after. Whoever your boss is . . . do they even know?”

The banging on the door and furniture continued and so too did the threats from the next room.

Rose sighed. “I’m not interested in riddles, you cutthroat bastard. One more time, who am I looking for? Him or them, I don’t care. Just tell me what I want!” She pressed her ruby harpoon against his neck, drawing a small trickle of blood already.

The man laughed again. “Not
them
!” he specified. “And not
him
! HER!” Upon hearing this, Rose felt the infrequent shock of surprise. “Ha ha!” the man choked. “Pity for us . . . it was just before that last meeting . . . that we figured it out. She’s crooked. Regardless of the ceasefire the Union would provide, it wasn’t worth the moral . . .” He coughed violently. “The moral compromise. We should’ve just reported her . . .”