by Saxon Andrew
“But I don’t now, Katy. This is my true appearance.”
Katy stared at him and smiled, “I can see the older you in your face.” Katy went up on her toes and kissed him on the lips. Indie was frozen, and Katy broke the kiss saying, “I can wait. You can change back, and we’ll just keep this to ourselves.”
“But Katy…”
Katy put her finger on his lips. “Indie, in ten years I’ll be thirty-two and you’ll look just like you do now. Be patient, I’ll catch up to you.” Indie smiled. Katy’s smile was mischievous, “But in the meantime, I’m not going to waste ten years for that to happen.” She went back up on her toes and this time, Indie wasn’t frozen.
• • •
Duncan looked at Tal on his monitor, “Duncan, there’s been a development.”
“Nothing serious, I hope!”
“Welllll…no one is going to die.” Tal responded.
“Then what?” Duncan asked.
“Katy told me this morning that she and Captain Wolfe are an item and she felt I should be aware of it. She said she might be asking to take her breaks with him and to please make the schedule accordingly.” Duncan stared at Tal and blinked. “She told me Indie showed her his real appearance and she says she loves both of them.”
“I don’t believe Katy has ever been really interested in a man.”
“Duncan, she is now. And I believe Indie feels the same about her. Please act surprised when she tells you.”
Duncan looked down and said, “That’s her on my other line.”
Tal smiled, “Remember, act surprised!” The monitor went dark and Tal smiled. Katy had changed a lot since her arrival. She wouldn’t be called beautiful, but she was someone you noticed instantly; she had come a long way. He wondered who broke the ice first between them. Maybe he’d find out later. There were going to be a lot of broken hearts in the fleet; Indie was off the market and Katy was making sure the word got out. He chuckled and knew that they were perfectly matched. Their children would be extraordinary.
Chapter Eleven
The Community Elder stood in front of the gathering and looked out at them. “It’s been a while since I’ve met with you. Before I get to the purpose of this meeting, I was wondering if any of you have any questions or issues that I need to be made aware of.” Silence greeted his announcement, until Ryshana raised her hand. The Elder turned to her, “Yes, what is it, child?”
“Elder, if the Clergy would allow us to replace the worn-out tractors we’re using to produce food for our ships, we would be able to produce a lot more than what we’re currently producing.”
Ryshana felt her mother stiffen beside her and several members of the gathering moved away from her.”
“What do you mean?” the Elder inquired.
“We’re only able to plow and till limited areas because the tractors keep breaking down. If we could replace them with newer tractors, we could produce a lot more food.”
The Elder’s eyes turned menacing, “Are you suggesting we reduce our warship production to build these tractors you’re talking about!”
Ryshana’s mother gripped her arm in a death grip. Ryshana lowered her eyes, “No, Elder. I would never suggest slowing production of our warships.”
Ryshana knew that if she said anything more, she would be punished. She vowed to say nothing more. But the Elder wasn’t allowing her that option. “It seems to me you are!!”
Ryshana looked up, “Elder, just like our fathers and brothers that are fighting for the Brotherhood, we are also playing our part in furthering the Brotherhood’s mission. We may not be taking part in the wars, but we are producing the food they need to be successful. Our contribution is important in their effort.”
The Elder glared at Ryshana and knew he shouldn’t have said anything else to her. He should have just had her punished, but now she had put him in a bind. If he ordered her punished, he would be telling everyone that their contribution to the war effort wasn’t important. He forced a smile and answered, “Child, you are producing enough food to feed our warriors. If we ever start to have shortages, I will take your suggestion to the High Clerics.” Ryshana lowered her head and nodded. The Elder turned his attention from Ryshana and asked, “Are there any more questions?” The gathering was silent and the Elder continued, “I’ve come here to take care of an issue that has been brought to my attention.”
He nodded to two-guards standing beside him and they moved out into the gathering. They stopped beside an older woman and her eyes went wide, “WHAT HAVE I DONE?!”
The Elder raised his nose and announced, “Did you not say that you question why the Brotherhood is going out to kill unbelievers?” The woman was panic stricken, and she turned to her daughter, who smiled and stepped away from her. The Elder ordered, “Take her out and administer the appropriate punishment!” The woman started screaming at her daughter as the guards dragged her out of the gathering into the tree line beside the community. The screams rang out in the night until a sharp crack and bright light was heard and seen by the gathered community. The blaster incinerated the woman and the Elder said loudly, “To question our mission is blasphemy and will not be tolerated!” He looked at the woman’s daughter and smiled, “Thank you for revealing this traitor. We don’t need one like her poisoning the minds of those around her. This gathering is over, and we will pray for her forgiveness.”
The Elder was joined by the two-guards as they walked over to the small ship that had brought them. The gathering broke up and everyone went to their dwellings. They lit the oil lamps and started their evening meals.
The moment Ryshana’s mother lit the lamps, she turned and gripped Ryshana’s cheeks in her right hand hard enough to leave bruises, “You will be silent at all future gatherings! Do you understand?!” Ryshana nodded but her mother kept the tight grip. “I’ve lost your father and two-brothers and I will not lose you, Ryshana! You are all I have left!”
Her mother released her and Ryshana said, “But you know I’m right!”
“Isobel just showed you what being right gets you! There is no right or wrong, Ryshana! There is only the Elders getting what they want! Not another word out of you. Or do you want to turn me in, Ryshana.”
Ryshana rushed to her mother and wrapped her arms around her, “I would never betray you, Mother. I love you more than anything.” Her mother sighed and returned her hug. She turned to prepare the evening meal and Ryshana knew her time was running out. Every single female could refuse a suitor until they turned twenty-one years old. If they didn’t have a mate by then, one would be imposed on them. Ryshana just turned twenty and her time was short. But how could she leave her mother alone? She lowered her head and knew there was nothing she could do to prevent it.
She stepped out of the shack and looked off in the distance. The glow from the huge modern city could be seen on the horizon. She and her mother were forced to live primitively while the Clerics and warriors feasted and lived in luxury with all the modern conveniences. This was not right! But there was nothing she could do about that either. If she had to take a mate, once she was pregnant, she would be sent back to this community to have her baby. Her mate would visit when he came home from the wars and all she had to look forward to being was providing children to go out and die while she lived a life in squalor farming in the blazing sun. She decided that dying was a better choice; blaster beams were quick and painless.
• • •
One of the guards turned to the Elder, “I’m surprised you let her off without punishment. We would have enjoyed giving it to her.”
The Elder scowled, “You’re going to get in trouble with your abusing of women if you’re not careful.”
The guard snorted, “I tell them I’ll come back and kill them if they talk about it.”
The Elder shook his head and looked out of the viewport. That woman was going to be a problem. The community agreed with her and that wasn’t good…they needed to know their place in the order of things.
> The small ship arrived at the luxury tower and he took the elevator down to the fiftieth-floor. If he wanted to move to a higher floor, he would need to make sure the community stayed in line. He heard his communicator beep and he picked it up, listened a moment, and said, “Sure, I’ll join you shortly.” He retrieved some funds out of his drawer and left the room for the card game six floors up. He was going to make sure he lost all of it and claim he didn’t make enough to continue the game. One of the participants had already suggested he needed a higher position so he could play longer. His plan was taking root and all he needed to do to be promoted was to make sure his community stayed in line. That woman would have to be handled…soon.
• • •
Tal looked around the bridge, before activating his monitors, “All ships will prepare to launch. Unit-one will leave orbit in five minutes, followed by unit two, then my unit. Unit-three will fall in behind my unit immediately after we move out.” Tal looked at Mila, “Captain, the ship is yours.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Sir, what about the two-support freighters?” Indie asked.
“They left on time this morning and we will catch up to them just outside Andromeda, Captain Wolfe.” Indie nodded and leaned back in the coverage officer’s chair behind the three-front-consoles. Tal looked at Ka and saw her running through simulations on her console. He smiled and knew she was determined to be ready for whatever faced them during the mission ahead. The crews were ready and now he’d see if all the hard work was going to pay off.
He scrolled through his monitors and listened to the crews one-by-one until he heard Mila announce, “Moving out from orbit.” Tal looked at the rear-monitor and in a few minutes, he saw Earth glowing brightly on the monitor. The Zak’s Jil went to half-speed and the Earth disappeared behind it as it leaped toward the distant stars. Ka turned and watched Tal staring at the monitor and smiled; he never tired of watching a starship launch. She returned her focus to the simulation and hoped what lied ahead wouldn’t be as dangerous as she thought it might be.
• • •
The twenty-one Sha Class warships moved high above the Milky Way and turned toward the distant speck of light that was their destination. Tal announced over the general-fleet-frequency, “Take all ships to maximum-speed in three…two…one…now!” The ships accelerated to their maximum-speed, while maintaining formation, and the Milky Way began growing smaller quickly. It was three weeks to Andromeda and their destiny with an ancient religion that would not give quarter or ask for it.
Tal announced, “During the voyage to Andromeda, you should go through all your simulations multiple times to prepare for what we’ll face. Make good use of this time to get ready. Admiral Talent out!” Tal turned the volume down on his console and gazed at the large forward monitor. The small smudge of distant light that was Andromeda appeared to be slightly brighter. He glanced at the rear monitor and saw the Milky Way was still huge but most of it was now visible in the monitor.
He sat back and stared at the galaxy that was home to humanity and felt something deep inside him. That was home. That was where he was born, and it was so incredibly beautiful. This mission was different from his fight in the LMC, were he deliberately tried to prevent destroying the alien warships. After studying the history of the Brotherhood, he knew with a certainty that if this mission led to fighting, his ships would have to do everything possible to destroy the enemy they were facing. Their ideology made it a certainty that there would be no surrendering by either side. This was going to be a fight to the death and there was no avoiding it. He looked back at the front monitor and felt an exhilaration, the assassin in him looked forward to what was coming. But the human part of him railed at the thought of having to kill billions of children and infants. Was there no possible way for them to co-exist? Could the Brotherhood have mellowed over the centuries? He sighed and wondered if there was a way to find out.
Indie stood up and interrupted his train of thought, “Sir, there’s something that I need to update you on.”
“What is that?” Tal inquired.
“The Colonies made a delivery of some small stealth craft last week and we have four of them in our landing bay.”
Ta’s brow furrowed, “Stealth craft?”
“They’re constructed from polymers that cannot be detected by scanners, Sir. Even the single gravity drive in them is constructed of a special metal that cannot be detected outside of a mile,” Indie explained.
“Just what purpose do they serve, Indie.”
“Sir, Admiral Montana thought it might be necessary to send someone down to one of their planets to look around. He hopes you won’t have to use them, but he also suggested they can be used to escape if the ship is damaged.” Tal was silent in thought, and Indie added, “I think he wants to make sure you aren’t lost on this mission.”
Tal raised a shoulder, “Like you said, Indie, let’s hope they’re not needed.” Tal knew the second reason was the real reason Duncan sent them; he wanted insurance that he and Ka weren’t killed.
Indie nodded and went back to his chair. Tal’s eyes narrowed, and he thought about just who he would possibly send down to scout a Brotherhood planet. The only ones that could come close to pulling it off were Ka and him. He thought about it and then smiled. There were a million assassins in the colonies that could do it. He thought about it some more and said to Katy, “Lieutenant Montana, connect me with Admiral Montana.” A few moments later, Duncan’s image appeared on his monitor and Tal began speaking.
• • •
When Jab arrived in the Guild Master’s office, he knew his time had run out; he just hoped he left this meeting alive. He was escorted to a chair in front of a huge, ornately carved wooden desk. He sat and waited for what he knew was coming. The Guild Master entered the office and took her seat behind the desk. She raised her computer out of the top of the desk and stared at it in silence for several minutes. Jab watched her and said nothing. Finally, she looked up at him, “Do you know why you’re here?”
“No, Guild Master, I do not,” Jab replied in a neutral tone.
“It’s come to my attention that you have refused numerous contracts offered to you in the past. I want to know why you’ve turned them down.” Jab was silent, and Tap smiled at him, “Silence is not an option, Jab. Answer my question!”
Jab took a breath and thought, here it comes, before answering, “They weren’t contracts that I wanted to accept, Guild Master.”
“Why not?”
“The person targeted did not deserve to be killed,” Jab replied with a stoic expression.
“That’s not a decision for you to make!”
“Even so, I chose not to accept them.”
Tap looked over at her computer and then back to him, “Tell me why you refused to accept a contract on a woman named Lea?”
“She was contracted to be killed for refusing a wealthy merchants advances, Guild Master.”
“You didn’t save her! The contract was accepted by another assassin and carried out.” Jab just stared at the Guild Master in silence. “What if every assassin chose to follow your actions?”
“Many innocent people would still be alive, Guild Master.”
“This has nothing to do with innocence or guilt!” Tap responded forcefully.
“Unfortunately, I believe it does, Guild Master.”
Tap sat back in her chair and steepled her index fingers in front of her. “So, it appears you have a conscience.” Jab shrugged. “That’s not a good thing if you’re an assassin.”
“I suppose it isn’t,” Jab replied.
A hand blaster suddenly appeared in Tap’s hand and she had it pointed at Jab’s head, “You will accept the last contract you refused, or you will lose your membership in the guild.”
Jab glared at the Guild Master and said in a sullen voice, “The last contract was to kill a child, Guild Master.”
“Age doesn’t matter. If you must know, a member of the child’s family wan
t’s them removed to insure their inheritance.”
Jab stared at the Guild Master in silence and finally said softly, “Then you need to do what you must. I will not kill a five-year-old.”
Tap raised the blaster and Jab closed his eyes. He waited and then, after a very long moment, he opened one eye to see the Guild Master had lowered the blaster and was staring at him. He opened the other eye and asked, “Uhhh…am I missing something here?”
“I had to make sure.”
“Sure, of what?” Jab asked.
“That you were the right one for a mission,” Tap replied.
“What’s going on?”
“I need someone to accept a contract and the one chosen must have the sort of character that is needed to pull it off,” Tap answered.
“Exactly what sort of character are you talking about.”
“Someone that would do the right thing, even if it cost them their life.”
Jab stared at her and started shaking his head, “If you’re looking for an assassin, you’re looking in the wrong place.”
“The mission requires someone that’s gone through assassin training.”
“Even so, you’re looking in the wrong place.”
“Am I?” Jab leaned back in his chair and waited. “You’ve just refused a contract because you knew it was wrong and were willing to die before being forced to carry it out, right.”
Jab tilted his head and then nodded, “That still doesn’t mean I have a good character.”
“Why is that?” Tap asked.
“I’m an assassin, Guild Master. I have killed and someone with good character wouldn’t do that.”
Tap looked at Jab and replied, “I want to make you an offer.” Jab just stared at her. “If you accept it, you will be allowed to leave the guild alive and will be paid enough to insure your life is spent in luxury.”
Jab blinked. “Who do I have to kill?”
“Hopefully, no one. But the assignment is extremely dangerous.”
“It can’t be any more dangerous than many of the contracts I’ve accepted.”