Archives of the Frontier Universe: An Assassin's Assignment (15 page)

“Hmm. You better move carefully then,” the captain advised. “Not that you couldn’t handle yourself, but it only takes one freaked out guard to start an alarm. After that, Meirthealy would probably never land there, and the mission would be over.”

“A reality that I’m keeping in close thought, Captain,” she whispered. She continued forth cautiously. “I can only see a single man.” Through echoed vision, her ears painted the shadowy image of a humanoid sitting—probably some sort of air or space-traffic controller. “He doesn’t appear to be guarding the area . . . or at least not his own. And I don’t think this is a high-security military tower anyways.”

“Nevertheless, you should be careful.”

“I always am.” Rose trotted up to the next level and peered through a side window at the man. He was busy working at his terminal. “I think I can—”

Suddenly, her extrasensory powers alerted her to someone else approaching. The person was rounding the corner, on their way to the door right next to her. With no time to hide, she slid up against the wall and eased up to the edge. The man was only two steps away. Swiftly, she fired her harpoon to the top of the tower, hooked it, and jumped into the air. Missing her by inches, the man rounded the corner, heading for the door. Rose fell back down, transformed her other harpoon into a blunt rod, and planted it into the soft tissue of the man’s head. He dropped like a weight, and she did her best to catch him.

Rose began to set the man down gently. Just then, a short rifle fell out of his hands, landed on its stock, and began to lean. “Damn it!” she cursed in a hiss. Releasing the man and letting him belly-flop, she caught the gun and pressed up against the wall again. For a while, it appeared there was no way the man inside did not hear anything. But even after several seconds, Rose could not sense any change in the room.

“What’s going on?” mumbled Meyer. “Are you alright?”

“I think so,” she replied very quietly. “I just had to neutralize a guard. There
was
more than one, and he was armed.” Remembering the rifle in her hands, she turned it over, examining it. After a moment, she found the weapon intriguingly unnecessary.

“Wow! Really?” expressed Meyer. “With what, a baton?”

“No, a rifle. But this weapon is very . . . unorthodox for long range. I guess it wasn’t for shooting things unless they were close to the tower.” Though the rest of it seemed almost useless, she noticed it was equipped with a high-powered variable zoom scope. “But it’s got something I
can
use: A scope. Forget the spyglass; this gun’s small enough to take with me.”

At that time, Rose caught eye of a Forcurrian cruiser approaching the LZ. A small escort of fighters accompanied it, breaking off as it landed safely. Judging from this escort and the ship’s high-class demeanor, the vessel no doubt carried an important official.

“Guess you’ll be getting out of there now?” assumed Meyer abruptly.

“Oh, yes!” she replied, inspired. “I’ve got a visual on Kelrundum’s ship. He just landed. Meirthealy’s can’t be far off. Hopefully, this guard won’t wake up for a few hours. By that time, I’ll already be on the way to Hiellta’s hotel.” She pulled the unconscious guard out of the window’s sightline and then leapt for the grassy floor once again.

About ten minutes later, Rose had a perfect visual on Ladorn Kelrundum. He appeared to be discussing something with an assistant of his, while waiting on Grandmaster Meirthealy. Night had completely fallen finally, and the spaceport’s lights illuminated the area. At further lengths in the surrounding park, luminous nocturnal flowers sparkled through the foliage, lighting the area and attracting all sorts of seduced insects. Rose hid in another tree she had snuck into when everyone else had eyes on the justice. Though still a ways away, she could see everything clearly thanks to the rifle’s scope.

About to say something to Meyer again, she paused, hearing another approaching ship. This one was Atlantean built, almost certainly the ferry of Meirthealy. Lowering the rifle, Rose watched the ship slow and set down next to Kelrundum’s. Not even a minute later, a woman departed the vessel, in the company of a few assistants of her own. “Contact,” she announced, scoping in again. And then she made confirmation. “She’s here. She’s just landed. Looks like Boss R’s intel was solid as always.”

“Excellent!” praised Meyer. “What’s she doing? Did she come alone?”

“If by ‘alone’ you mean with no other significant figure, I believe so,” Rose answered. “There’re a few aides with her, but that’s all. She’s being greeted by Kelrundum now. And . . .” She paused, seeing Kelrundum hold out his hand in the direction of the park. Meirthealy nodded to him, gave instructions to her aides, and then followed the justice towards the park. “Looks like they’re on the move. Which means so am I.” Rose dropped to the ground again, tailing them.

“How far are you? Will you be able to even hear them without getting too close?”

Rose hurried after the two, reaching the edge of the park quickly. Kelrundum appeared to give instructions to his men, and they stayed many paces behind. He and Meirthealy continued upon a brick path. “I’m about a hundred meters away. I’ll try and close the distance, but I have to avoid both Meirthealy
and
their rearward guards now.”

Rose followed the high ranking figures for about two minutes before finally getting the chance to move ahead of them down the path. After calculating the distance necessary to eavesdrop but not be compromised, she kicked off her heals again, tied them to her belt via their straps, and jumped into a tree. Meirthealy and Kelrundum were already cresting a small hill in the distance, as their murmuring grew audible. “I’m in position,” advised Rose. “They’re coming; I’ll be going quiet for a while as I listen in.”

“Copy that.”

“
I’m pleased to hear your world is on the mend
,” muttered the voice of the justice. “
And I regret that this is the first we are speaking about this in person.
”

“
As am I
,” answered Grandmaster Leiyvr Meirthealy. “
But duty must be attended to first, and it is that which has appropriately tied our hands for the past few weeks. Not just mine and my own people’s, but yours and the Court’s as well. Atlantis, more than any world perhaps, appreciates the vast pressure the allied worlds are under. You have nothing to regret, Justice
.” The elder woman was wearing a set of high-quality formal dress-robes, fashioned in Atlantean design. Colored dark blue and brown, they swept to the brick path, nearly concealing her matching shoes. Her silver hair was put up neatly, bound in several places, and on her face she wore a pair of glistening spectacles. The woman’s arkanverre was fastened to her hip, its lavish hilt reflecting in the light of nocturnal blooms.

As they neared, their voices cleared up. Rose remained as still as possible, holding the rifle down and concentrating her hearing.

“An ally of any world under attack cannot help but to feel regret, Grandmaster. It would be near criminal of me to feel otherwise.”

The elder nodded. “Indeed. However . . .” She looked to the man. “Such feelings have a tendency of bleeding into subjects
not
part of our responsibility.”

Kelrundum looked back at her. “I know your referring to Dailunavein. And . . . I do sympathize with them. The allied worlds, however, may not . . . have not, even.”

Meirthealy nodded, but in a way indicating she had long considered this. “Well, we’ll have to see.” She shook her head. “I still can’t believe the Union has been so bold. Not only Atlantis a few weeks ago, but now Florenial, Venvialoen, Dailunavein . . . and then there were the attacks ‘here’ . . . on representatives!”

“Yes . . .” the man put, sort of regretfully. “That in itself is going to stir the worlds up even more. At the next session, we plan on discussing everything you are already aware of. But these recent attacks will likely be at the forefront of everyone’s mind, and they’ll already be on edge because of the spreading of Union influence.”

Well, at least they’re nice and scared
, Rose thought.
This ought to bode well for my master’s plans
. As the two officials crept ever closer, she maneuvered silently to get a better view.

“So, it would seem the situation here is even worse than when my
own
world was under attack—if you count Forcurrier’s responsibility to the allied worlds,” expressed Meirthealy. She sounded to have hushed her voice slightly as she came over another little hill. Rose stayed frozen, eyeing them closely. “You know, when the first attacks began on Atlantis, I thought stopping them would surely put an end to this madness. Who would have thought that an entire war would be started?”

“I had no idea the Union’s strength was so vast,” said Kelrundum. “Like you, I was sure their initial attacks were carried out because of personal feuds with your world’s government. But now with a much larger organization exposed, the situation requires far closer attention. And again, I apologize for the Court’s hesitation in responding to Atlantis’s call for aid. Had we only known, I would have personally ordered every world of the Court to send aid immediately.”

“
I can hear a little indistinct chatter
,” entered Meyer via the comm. “
I’m assuming that’s them
?”

“Affirmative,” whispered Rose. “They’re discussing the attack on Atlantis.”

“. . . What counts is the worlds of the Court came to a decision and were able to render assistance when it mattered most,” continued Meirthealy. “That, Justice, was an indisputable blessing.”

“You mean the fact Fontaine lost interest,” Rose corrected lowly.

“
What’s that
?” asked Meyer.

Rose squatted down even further, concealing herself almost perfectly. “She thinks it was because of the Court’s aid that her world didn’t fall. Fontaine simply ‘chose’ to pull out.”

“Oh, right. Well, let them think what they want. Are they saying anything important?”

Rose listened, still hearing condolences and tiresome regrets. “Not at the moment. It seems that all we’re going to get is confirmation of her arrival. That’s all Boss R required anyways. I suppose I’ll contact him when they leave and then get stated with Hiellta.” Suddenly, though, a distinct falter in the grandmaster’s words caught her attention.

“We—” the elder stammered. “We have EVERYTHING to thank Posteritor Reed for,” she put with strong emotion. For the second time on the mission, Roszephnye’s heart seized, and she shut her eyes slowly. “Were it not for him, my company and I, along with the Grand Chief, would have perished under the might of the Union. Every one of us who was there has him to thank for even surviving that day . . .”

Rose allowed Meirthealy’s voice to melt away, as she once again considered the shocking death of Master Reed. The pain was keen, even if Reed was part of the Court, for he was even dearer to another . . . Another Rose once cared for . . .

“. . . Oh, Justice,” continued Meirthealy, sobbing “. . . I miss him . . . so much!”

Now ignoring her for the sake of her own conscience, Rose spoke again to Meyer. “Damn Meirthealy!” she huffed, in intolerance.

“What’s she saying?” asked Meyer.

“Just going on about . . . nothing. It’s nothing important.” Rose breathed heavily but quietly to hide her emotions from Meyer. For the next minute, she blocked out the two’s conversation, until they changed the subject to something more interesting.

“. . . there have been three separate assassinations here on Forcurrier,” said the justice. Rose snapped her attention back onto them, but they had already passed her tree and were heading down the path away from her.

Scanning the area for their security, Rose spent the next minute hopping through the trees, trying her best to follow but make no noise. The two officials paced on, inconsiderate of her desires. Behind them, the security kept up, staying far enough to offer both privacy and protection. Rose crossed many branches, until finally stopping at a tree which overlooked their path for many meters. Meirthealy and the justice continued conversing, waiving their hands and exchanging gestures of shock. Finally, however, they neared Rose again.

“. . . Justice,” began Meirthealy in a shaken voice. “We must be dealing with an incredibly skilled professional. There is no alternate explanation. The assassin must have been a posteritor. No other would have been capable of such a perfect series of murders.”

“Got that right!” Rose agreed. Then she addressed Meyer, knowing already he would wonder what she was talking about. “The grandmaster insists that the one who assassinated the reps. must’ve been a professional.”

“I agree,” said Meyer quickly.

Rose cocked her head, thinking the man’s input was exaggerated, and laughed. “Now, Captain, there’s no need to be a kiss-ass.”

“What?” he asked in slight shock. “I meant that. You’ve got to be the most talented woman I’ve ever worked with.”

She giggled lowly. “Thanks.”

Rose watched them for a while longer. Amidst more concern from Meirthealy, the justice insisted that she accept ‘protection’ from the assassin. The grandmaster eventually accepted . . . even if grudgingly. Later on, they spoke of Dailunavein—the Union’s current objective—and sending aid to the world. Not unexpectedly, neither the justice himself nor the rest of the Court apparently seemed in particular favor of it . . . and actually, neither did Meirthealy. But the elder, like the justice a night before, saw through their own selfish desires, concluding the world indeed needed help. What particularly interested Rose, however, was the fact that Meirthealy would apparently be traveling to the system herself.
That’s an unusual thing for her to do. Normally, a person of her standing would swindle bureaucrats into sending military only . . . and then perhaps she’d arrive at the end to fell the last panicking grunt as some publicity play . . .