Jason King: Agent to the Stars 1: The Enclaves of Sylox (16 page)

Chapter 23

As I stepped into the office lobby I was immediately assaulted by the uneasy glare from easily fifty pairs of eyes, all looking at me with a combination of fear and resignation. As a matter of fact, the entire room was packed full of scared-looking Hyben. I was sure part of the reason for their outward display of fear was the mess I’d made out in the corridor.

Yet another could have been the half dozen or so armed aliens lining the large room, and each with Xan-Fi flash rifles aimed directly at them.

Well this changes things
. It seemed Miranda
had
come with a little army of her own, a mixture of at least three different races – as far as I could tell – including one very pissed-off Hyben who was glaring at me, even as his rifle was aimed into the room. Some of his friends must be lying dead in the hallway, and he didn’t appear to be very happy about it.

I surveyed the rest of the office, and saw that Miranda and her entourage had the entire company on lockdown, with what I assumed were all the employees now crowded into this one room.

“They kind of freaked out when I told them what I wanted done,” Miranda said, as if reading my mind. “So I had no choice. I was going to offer them a shitload of money, but now it looks like they’re going to do the job for
free
. How do you like those negotiating skills,
Mister-Big-Time-Negotiator-Real-Estate-Broker-Dude
?”

Gone was Miranda’s exotic accent and classy demeanor, replaced now with a streetwise attitude boarding on cockiness. “You do know you’re about to start a war?”

“That’s bullshit, Jason. No one is going to start a war over a damn statue. If one does start, then the statue is not the cause, and I’m not to blame for what happens.”

“What you’re doing could destroy the Earth and everyone on it. Can you live with that?”

“What does the Earth have to do with this? I was hired by aliens; Humans have nothing to do with this.”

“That’s not what they’re saying on Sylox. They think we’re both working for the government and out to get some kind of revenge on the Velosians and the Simoreans. They now have the Earth squarely in their sights.”

Miranda hesitated ever so slightly before responding. “That’s just a scare-tactic they used to get you to come after me. All I was supposed to do was steal the statue and then hand it over to the aliens. They were then going to use it to blackmail another group of aliens into doing something, I never knew what.”

“No way, sweetheart. All hell is breaking out across the galaxy and all because of you. By the way, who told you to pass yourself off as spy for the CIA? That’s the main thing that’s put the Earth in jeopardy.”

“That was just part of the cover story – as much for your benefit as anyone else. It didn’t make much sense to me, either, but for seven million dollars I’d say and do whatever they wanted me to.”

“I hope you got your fee upfront, because now you’re being made the scapegoat, along with me and the rest of the Human race. They know about you, so every law enforcement agency and bounty hunter in the galaxy is going to be coming for you.”

A small cloud crossed over Miranda’s face. “I got half of it upfront, and I don’t care who they set up to take the fall or who they send after me. I’ll be long gone before they can catch their breath.”

**********

Miranda motioned with the weapon for me to enter a side room, leaving the rest of the party for a little more privacy. This had to be the CEO’s office because it had a massive stone desk and the largest, most ornate chair I’d ever seen. Miranda moved to the other side of the desk and sat down in the chair, looking small and insignificant in its immense volume.

I smiled at her. “So they thought you’d just turn the Stone over to them once you had it?”

She laughed. “Yeah, can you imagine that. Frickin idiots. Here, take a look at this and tell me if you would have given it up.”

From behind the desk, Miranda lifted a thick, briefcase-size metal carrying case and set it on the table. She snapped open the latches and opened it, before reaching into the case and pulling out an object covered in a blue, velvet cloth. She sat the tall object on the desktop and then pulled away the covering.

It was the Unity Stone all right – I’d seen the picture in Orn’s office – but in-person the object was even more impressive, and almost hypnotic in its beauty and electric presence.

It was about five inches wide and six deep, and its sensual, freeform shape flowed up to a height of just over nineteen inches, ending in a sharp point set off to one side. In person, the form reminded me of a bird of some kind, with its beak pointing almost vertical. But what really made the statue unique were the hundreds – if not thousands – of cut facets covering the entire surface. Some of the angles were wide, while others were only a millimeter or so across. The combination of all the different angles caused the light entering the massive cut diamond to break into a near-blinding spectrum of colors, and with every shift of the head or light source, the colors would dance and sparkle as if alive. Also, without a single defining edge the Stone appeared to have multiple depths and would breathe with the light.

I knew my mouth had fallen open, and I wasn’t sure how long I’d sat staring at the Unity Stone. I shook off the trance and turned my attention back to Miranda. She had been watching me all the time with a wicked smirk on her face.

“I told you. I bet if the roles were reversed you would’ve taken off with it, too.”

“Not hardly,” I said, trying to act tough and macho, not wanting to be seen slobbering over some big-ass diamond. “I don’t think it would go with any of my outfits.”

“It will mine. And when it’s cut down, I’ll have the largest collection of the biggest diamond accessories ever.”

“So you’re going to destroy this incredible work of art, just for your own greed.”

“Yeah, and that was essentially the same reaction the Hyben had. I thought they’d jump at the chance to make a quick buck or two, but no. All I wanted was the thing broken down into more manageable pieces. They wouldn’t even have to do the final cuts.” She hesitated, and then turned the Glock on the thirteen-pound statue.

“I guess if worse came to worst, a .45-caliber bullet would be just as effective in breaking it down into pieces other jewelers could then cut. The fragments wouldn’t be as precise, but there’d be a bunch of them.” She focused her intense stare on the statue and I saw the muscles in her bare arm begin to tense.

“Don’t do it! That would be insane!” I cried out as I jumped to my feet. Only Miranda’s quick shift of the Glock in my direction stopped me from jumping over the desk at her.

“So you
are
enamored by it, too?”

“No, I’m just thinking what a shitstorm it would cause if you destroyed it. I’m serious; it would start a war and probably wipe out the Human race in the process. Is that what you want?”

“Let aliens kill aliens, and I’m sure the people back on Earth will find some way of surviving this, even if it means eviscerating you, Mr. King, at the 50-yard-line during halftime of the next Super Bowl. Don’t you see, my love, it was planned a long time ago for you to take the fall. It didn’t realize that at first, but now I can see the larger picture. Someone has to pay, and that someone will be you.”

“They’ll catch you, too—”

Her sudden outburst of laughter stopped me. “I don’t think so. Unfortunately for you, there’s a lot more going on here than you realize. I’ll survive – hell, I’ll even return to Earth one day, where I’ll enjoy the trapping of all the incredible wealth I’ll get from the Unity Stone. And no one will ever be the wiser.”

“If there’s an Earth to return to.”

“Knock it off, Jason. If on the remote chance you are correct – and the Earth is destroyed – then I’ll find another place in the galaxy to call home. There are a heluva a lot of other worlds out here, and some are really quite nice, present company excluded, of course.”

“What a cold-hearted bitch you are.”

“Compliments will get you nowhere, Jason … at least nowhere you haven’t already been.” Her nasty smirk only made my stomach turn.

“You know I can’t let you destroy the statue. Pretty soon, I’m going to have to stop you.”

The smile vanished from her face. “Don’t do anything stupid, King. I’m quite proficient with this weapon, and I’d really prefer to have you alive to face all the crap coming your way.”

“Well, leaving me unrestrained was a stupid move then. You’ve read my jacket; you know what I’m capable of.”

I saw the first trace of uncertainly cross Miranda’s dark, beautiful face. Her eyes hardened and she slowly rose from the enormous chair. She wrapped the Unity Stone back in its velvet covering. “You’re right, of course. But why you would remind of this makes me nervous. Stand up!”

I obeyed, first raising my hands above my head, and then lowering them until they were behind me, near the pit of my back. I carefully lifted the waist coat and felt for the Taser, all the while keeping eye contact with Miranda. I shifted my position to keep my back to her as she came around the desk. She had produced a nylon cord from a pocket of her outfit, holding it in her left hand and the Glock in her right.

“Turn around, and keep your hands behind you.”

I began to turn around, but just then I tilted my head upward and opened my eyes wide in shock, looking at the ceiling. As was instinct, Miranda followed my gaze, if only for the briefest of moments. It was long enough for me to tilt the Taser in her direction as I continued to turn my back towards her. I pressed the trigger.

The double darts flew out and impacted her low on her abdomen, discharging its twelve hundred volt surge into the suddenly convulsing body. Once the contact was established, the weapon settled into its nineteen-per-second shock cycle.

The Glock fell from her hand, clanging loudly against the solid stone floor, followed there closely by a collapsing Miranda Moore. I turned to face her now holding the Taser firmly in my grip. I let the voltage coarse through her body for a few moments longer than was necessary – just because I could – before releasing the trigger.

With Miranda still writhing on the floor, I scooped up the Glock and moved to the office door, listening for any approaching threats. One of the advantages of stone construction was that sound didn’t carry very well through solid, twelve-inch-thick walls, so no one had heard the scuffle inside the office.

I looked at the still twitching body on the floor. Miranda Moore now looked pitiful and small, not the confident, galactic jewel thief she’d been only moments before. Suddenly all the pain and suffering she had caused me over the past few days – along with the serious implications of her actions – all came flooding out. I reared back with my right leg, but just before I laid a boot into her midsection, I held back. I wasn’t above hitting a lady – even if a lady had been present – but Miranda Moore was no longer a threat, and stomping on her now would be cruel and uncalled for.

But then again ….

I let loose with the kick – maybe not as forceful a one as I would have laid into a man – but it was still enough to cause a painful grunt to escape Miranda’s sensual lips.

Next I pulled the electrical leads from her body before picking her up in the light gravity and literally throwing her limp body into a huge chair set along one of the walls of the office.

It was at this point that I noticed the office had no window. I figured that with such a dismal lack of scenery outside, the Hyben didn’t feel they were missing much by not having one. However, a quick survey also revealed that the room had no secondary exit, either. There was just one way in and out, and that was right where Miranda’s six armed soldiers now stood guard.

Miranda would be incapacitated for another few minutes, but even then I looked around and found the nylon cord she was going to bind my wrist with, and did it to her instead. Next I tore off her blouse and fastened a strong seam around the back of her head and across her mouth. I really wanted to take her back to Sylox with me, just so I could offer her up as the true culprit in the crime. But I still hadn’t figured out how
I
was going to get out of the office and the building, let alone with an inert body draped over my shoulder.