by Charles Case
Brast smiled. “If I didn’t throw these parties all the time, then I wouldn't be able to meet interesting people like you, now would I? How would it look if an army Major came knocking on my door in the middle of the day? People would ask why you were here. What I was up to. But, no one bats an eye when Seena Lieu’s date disappears from the party for twenty or thirty minutes. Honestly, I would be surprised if they even remember what you look like.”
Corbin liked this guy. He was odd, and way into tiny food, but he seemed to have his ducks in a row. Looking around the ballroom and its opulence once again, Corbin thought Brast’s ducks might be a little more than in a row. Maybe in formation.
“Meet me in my office in five minutes.” He tossed another sausage into his mouth and indicated an arched doorway with his chin. “Go through there, and my man will show you the way.”
Before Corbin could say anything, Brast picked up a rocks glass with a large ball of ice and what Corbin assumed was a very expensive whiskey, then walked away.
Corbin watched him go and popped a sausage into his mouth. “That might be the most interesting person I’ve ever met.”
“Says the guy with another living being inside him,” Leela snarked.
“Well, yeah. I suppose there’s that. Let’s see if we can get Seena’s attention and let her know the plan.”
“Already on it. I let Gert know, and she’s telling Seena now.”
As if on cue Seena looked over her shoulder at Corbin and gave him a barely-perceptible nod.
“Okay. I guess I can spend five minutes eating.” He took a bite of tuna, and his eyes rolled back with pleasure. “Oh, man. He was right. Tiny food is awesome.”
21
After a second plate of hors d’oeuvres, Corbin looked for a place to put the dirty plate, but it was taken from his hand by a passing waitress who gave him a large smile before moving deeper into the crowd.
“Thanks,” he called after the woman, but she was gone before the word left his lips.
Not knowing exactly what else to do, he brushed the crumbs from his tux jacket and headed for the hall that Brast had indicated.
As soon as he stepped out of the ballroom, a man in tails and white gloves stepped up next to him. “If you would follow me, sir.” He had a way of pronouncing the words that made him sound superior, without being offensive.
Before Corbin could reply, the butler started walking briskly down the hall, taking the first turn they came to. Once out of the ballroom and the adjoining hall, Corbin noticed the decor became less gaudy and more refined. The gold and silver filigree that dominated the large dance hall was replaced with a sleeker look of different colored woods and thick, rather plain carpets. The furniture deeper into the house was functional while still having a beauty that wasn’t overstated.
Corbin smiled to himself as he followed the quick-moving butler. It seemed that Brast Kessler was not into flaunting his wealth in the most extreme way possible except in the public areas of the massive house. This was a good sign, Corbin decided. It meant that Brast was much more practical than Corbin had first assumed.
“So, how long have you worked for Brast?” Corbin asked the back of the man in front of him.
“Forty-three years.” He didn't even turn when he said it, just directed Corbin down another hall.
“Forty-three? You don't look a day over thirty, man. How old are you?” Corbin realized the question was rude, but he couldn't help himself.
The butler cleared his throat before stopping and indicating a large wooden door. “Seventy-six. If you would wait in here, Mr. Kessler will be with you when he is ready.”
Before Corbin could say anything else, the man turned on his heels and marched down the hall. Raising an eyebrow, Corbin watched the interesting man turn a corner.
“Well, I suppose if I were seventy-six I wouldn't suffer fools, either,” Corbin mused, opening the door and stepping through.
He found himself in a room full of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, but relatively small for a library. There was a set of double doors on the opposite wall from him and four large, comfortable-looking chairs in each corner. When Corbin tried the doors, he discovered they were locked. Not knowing what else to do, he took a seat.
He sat in silence for a good minute before the ding of a message on his tablet made him nearly jump for joy. He pulled up the sleeve of his jacket and saw that Mara had sent him an update.
[We are moving the last of our main base on the next trip. Not as much as I originally thought there was. Still need to transfer our caches but that will take a little more time since we can’t land the dropship directly at the location. Update me on your meeting when it’s over. We need to get a plan in motion ASAP.]
Corbin wondered what exactly they had in those caches, and decided it was probably more stolen military-grade equipment. Remembering Lawrence’s difficulty in controlling the power armor, Corbin thought about the people he had served with in the military. He began putting a list of people together in his head that he thought might be sympathetic to the cause. After a little more consideration, he typed up the list and sent it to Lawrence with a note attached explaining his idea, and asking him to look into each of their backgrounds to see if any would be worth approaching.
That done, Corbin sat back in the comfy chair and began scanning the book titles on the shelf. He was only through one shelf and still couldn't tell how they were organized—genre? Authors name? A combination of both?—when the double doors opened on their own, inviting him in.
Corbin stood, and, not seeing any other option, entered the office beyond.
“I hope Jeffrey wasn't too curt with you.” Brast’s baritone filled the room, making Corbin jump and turn to the large wooden desk that dominated the center of it. Brast swiveled around in a high-backed leather office chair. “He’s a little on edge with so many people in the house at once. He gets this way at every party. Please, have a seat.” He held out a hand, indicating one of two leather chairs facing the desk.
Corbin looked around the large office, appreciating the identical built-in bookshelves as the waiting area that made up the walls from floor to ceiling, except for two windows to either side of the desk and a large fireplace between them, perfectly framing Brast.
“Well, this is nice.” Corbin sat in the brown leather chair and sank in, but not so far that he felt trapped.
“We have a problem, Major,” Brast started, leaning back and steepling his fingers under his chin.
Corbin raised an eyebrow. “That we do, Brast. I hear we have a mutual friend who may have informed you of our plans to remedy those problems. Shasa?”
Brast smiled. “Ah, yes. Our local rep, or so she says. We did talk. And, after hearing your story, and the amazing things that seem to be happening around you and Miss Lieu, I decided to look into matters for myself.” Brast sipped a whiskey that Corbin hadn’t noticed sitting on the corner of the desk. “Do you want to know what I found?”
“I would imagine if your network is any good, then you found corrupt supers everywhere you looked.” Corbin wondered where he was going with this.
Brast frowned, leaned back and sipped again. “Unfortunately, I already know all too well about that. There’s only so much I can do out in the open. Be assured, I am making moves toward a future we can both be proud of.”
Brast stood, taking the whiskey with him, and walked to one of the bookshelves. Activating a hidden switch made a large section of the shelves quickly sink into the wall and split open, revealing a large monitor.
“No, Major, I did not find the corruption that is poisoning our people.” He gestured, and the monitor turned on. “I found something much worse.”
“Seena.” Gert’s rich voice filled Seena's head, distracting her from a story the CEO of Vale’s banking system was telling her that involved no more than three trips to a gentleman's club that was supposed to be funny… in an ironic way. “Leela has informed me that Corbin and Brast need you to come to his office and se
e something. They are being quite cryptic, but have sent directions to Brast’s office.”
Seena, having lost the tread of the CEO’s story, laughed when everyone else did to keep up appearances, and placed a hand on the older man’s arm. “Oh, Robert, you are a real treat, whenever I see you.” Robert beamed at the seeming compliment, and Seena gave him a slight pout. “But, you will have to excuse me. I’m afraid the champagne has gone straight through me.”
Everyone chuckled along with her as she disengaged from the crowd and headed for one of the archways deeper into the house. She was nearly to the door when she noticed she had a hanger-on. Turning her head slightly, she saw a woman in her early thirties that she didn't recognize a step or two behind her.
When the woman saw Seena glance back at her, she smiled and took a few quick steps to catch up. “I’ve had to go for an hour, but I can't find the bathroom in this place,” she laughed affably. “Hope you don't mind if I follow you. I’m guessing you know the way.”
Seena’s eyebrows furrowed, but she smiled. “It’s no problem. I’ve been here a few times before. Brast didn't put a lot of thought into bathrooms, so it’s a bit of a hike.”
She laughed, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder. “I don't mind the walk. So, how long are you staying here on Vale?”
Seena frowned. Still not having any idea who she was, Seena didn't really want to give her any information about herself. “For a little while. I’m sorry, have we met before?”
They turned a corner down a hall toward a restroom Seena had used on one of her previous visits when the main ones were full. She was hoping that she could get the woman in first and then make her escape.
“Oh, I don't think so. I’ve been on Rush for the last few years. I’m Dianna, by the way.” She held out a hand as they walked around a second corner and the din of conversation and music from the ballroom fell away.
Seena reached out and squeezed her hand. “I’m Seena.”
“Oh, I know who you are.” Dianna’s voice became hard as steel, as did her grip on Seena's fingers. Out of nowhere, she produced a hypodermic injector and pushed it into Seena's forearm, pushing the trigger with her thumb.
Seena's eyes went wide and she tried to pull away, but Dianna’s grip was like iron. The injector clicked but the indicator light turned red, indicating a failure to inject, instead of the expected green.
Both women stared down at the device in confusion. The area of skin around the injector’s tip had turned green.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Take her out.” Gert sounded like she was talking to a particularly slow child.
Seena blinked, understanding flooding in. Gert had deployed a layer of armor before the hundreds of needles could penetrate her skin.
Looking the other woman in the eye, Seena bared her teeth and growled. Feeding a steady stream of power into her new ability, Seena reached down with inhuman speed, snatched the injector from Dianna’s hand, then pressed it to the woman’s neck and depressed the button. It all happened in the blink of an eye. A second later, Dianna was sprawled on the floor, her dress up past her knees and her head bouncing on the carpet.
Seena quickly leaned down and checked her pulse. She was alive, but unconscious.
Panic began to set in as she looked left then right, checking to be sure they were alone. Her etiquette classes had covered a lot of what to do at a ball in nearly all situations, from which fork to use all the way to how to disengage from unwanted conversation. But, at no time did they cover how to dispose of an assassin or kidnapper.
“Take her to Brast’s office,” Gert prompted, feeling the panic build. “He will have people to deal with this.”
“How far is it?”
“Just down the hall and to the right.”
“How am I supposed to carry an unconscious woman down the hall and not be seen?” Seena was sweating, praying that no one would come around the corner.
“If it were me, then I would do it quickly. Very quickly, if you get my meaning.”
“Oh, right.” Seena chuckled while leaning down to pick up Dianna’s limp body.
She cradled the woman in her arms and fed power into her ability. The world around Seena slowed as she moved at super speed down the hall and around the corner. Gert pointed out the door and Seena quickly entered, slamming the outer door behind her.
Slowing down so she didn't sprain an ankle using super speed in heels, Seena opened one of the double doors to the inner office.
She couldn't help but smile at the shocked looks on both men’s faces as she carried the unconscious Dianna in and unceremoniously dumped her on the floor.
“Gentlemen,” she put her hands on her hips in a classic power pose. “I understand there is something I should see?”
“Yeah.” Corbin looked from her to Dianna and back. “Uh, what the hell?”
“Assassin,” Seena said confidently, looking down at her prize. “Or, maybe a kidnapper. I didn't really get a chance to talk to her before she tried to knock me out. We should take her back with us and interrogate her. Mara will know what to do.”
Brast settled back in his chair and fingered an intercom button. “Jeffrey, would you come to my office? And bring a people mover.”
Seena frowned. “A people mover? What’s that?”
“It’s a cart we have for moving people about unnoticed.” Brast waved the comment off as if having a people mover was the most natural thing in the world.
“Need to move a lot of bodies, do you?” Seena raised an eyebrow questioningly.
“It comes up from time to time.” He indicated a bar built into one of the bookshelves. “Feel free to make yourself a drink. After seeing this video, I think you’ll need one.”
Corbin nodded from his seat. “He’s right. You’re definitely going to need a drink after this.”
22
Corbin watched as Seena made herself a drink, then came and sat beside him.
“Okay, I think I’m ready.” She seemed a little shaken after her ordeal getting to the office.
The thought of that made Corbin turn to look at the unconscious woman on the floor. She was well dressed, and maybe in her thirties, with blonde hair that would have hung to her waist if it weren’t splayed out on the floor around her head. He wondered who this woman was, and who had sent her. His first guess would be William Lieu, but then, why not send her after him instead of Seena?
It seemed like there was a little more going on in the background than he was comfortable with. Especially after seeing the video.
The door opened, interrupting Corbin's thoughts, and Jeffery came in pushing what looked like a cart with a large tablecloth that hung to the floor.
“Ah, Jeffery,” Brast inclined his head at the butler and pointed to the woman on the floor as if it wasn’t obvious who the people mover was for. “It’s that one there. If you would be so kind as to have her delivered to the authorities—”
“Actually,” Corbin interrupted, “could you take her to our dropship? There is a small brig in the back you can store her in. I have a feeling we’re going to want to know exactly who sent her and why.”
Jeffery looked to Brast for confirmation, and received a nod. “Very good, sir. Will there be anything else?”
“No, I think that will be all for now. Thank you, Jeffery.”
Corbin was about to stand and help the older man with the limp prisoner, but before he could get out of the plush chair, Jeffery had pulled the tablecloth off a large container on wheels and pressed a button that automatically retracted the lid. He then stooped and lifted the woman without much effort, leading Corbin to believe the man had some sort of bionic implants or was a super.
After a few seconds, Dianna was lowered into the crate, the lid closed, and the tablecloth back in place. With a nod, Jeffery wheeled the cart out of the room and closed the door.
“He really is full of mystery,” Corbin mused quietly.
“Jeffery?” Brast chuckled. “You have no idea.”<
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“Now that we’ve cleaned up,” Seena sighed, “do you think we could get to this video I’ve been hearing so much about?”
“Ah, right you are, Lady Lieu.” Brast gestured and the video started.
Corbin ran a nervous hand through his hair. He didn't know how Seena was going to take this, but he was determined to be there for her. He reached over and casually took her hand in his. She smiled and turned back to the monitor, but kept hold of his hand. Sitting back, he watched along with her, trying to see the footage as if for the first time.
The video began with a view of a small town from street level. Two- and three-story buildings lined the streets, with vehicles parked along the curb. The scene looked like many other towns in the VRC that were not the huge urban centers, except for the fact that there were several large mechs and dozens of soldiers with power armor moving in formation down the street’s center.
There was muted squad chatter, but not loud enough to make out what was happening. However, there were columns of smoke rising from the adjacent blocks that swung into view when the soldier looked to the side.
The roar of engine wash made the group duck for cover, and the bellies of several Kubla dropships passed overhead, banking to land just past the buildings to the soldiers’ right. A few hand signals and the soldier’s squad broke off from the main group, heading for an alley.
The camera man was in the rear, so they all got a good look as the squad picked their way past several dumpsters and vehicles parked in the relatively narrow passage between buildings. The soldiers lined up along the wall at the mouth of the alley and the leader quickly glanced around the corner, then signaled for them to move behind a turned-over cargo loader in the middle of the street.
Camera movements became impossible to follow as the soldiers sprinted for cover. Then the camera peeked over the top of the sideways loader and showed a scene Corbin was all too familiar with, except that the wind golems of his visions were replaced with ones made of stone.