by Reiter
“Is that a lesson you taught your students?” Kaila asked, holstering her weapon.
“You tell me, Kaila Montrose. Are you not my student?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Then you didn’t learn anything just now?” Freund asked, already knowing the answer.
“That’s a pretty slim technicality,” Kaila argued. An image of Freund started to develop in front of her.
“Is this all in my mind, or has he brought me into his?” she pondered before adding to the thought that it really did not matter. The entity she had been told was potent but still vulnerable to death, had shown the depths of his power. Xaythra was a no-show, probably off crying in some cosmic corner, wondering why no one loved her anymore. Freund, on the other hand, was ever-present and it appeared that he was only getting stronger.
“Slim technicality? Welcome to reality,” Freund said, bowing. Nine other likenesses of him appeared as the blackness was replaced with the constructs one normally found on a combat-shooting range. “… where everything’s what it is… until it isn’t.”
“I’m sure you’ve baked a few noodles with that one,” Kaila estimated.
“Oh, I’m running a veritable soup kitchen here!” all the Freunds replied. “Assumptions are the spices I use in my broth and you’ve had your fill of those, I’m sure.”
“It seems I go for spicy food,” Kaila answered.
“One simply has to acquire the taste for such things,” Freund assured. “Are you a betting woman, Kaila?”
“My line of work leads people to the assumption that I am a gambler,” Kaila stated. “But I’ve found that the less I have to gamble, the better the job gets done.”
“So, you’re here for a purpose other than killing me,” Freund concluded as the copies faded.
“Right now, I’m thinking we’re wherever you brought me. But I’ll go with what you’re saying. I actually came here for two reasons.” Kaila replied. “One, to tell you that our fight with you is over. That last shot of yours was enough for some of us to come to our senses.”
“Still, some of your number… do they not remain with Xaythra?”
“What’s left of them and her, you mean.”
“Granted,” Freund agreed, rubbing his chin. “Very well, I will take you at your word, Kaila Montrose, and give those with you wide berth and free rein to leave the sector without any further hostility. But even with the loss of Baron Zoll, there must still be a number within your ranks who crave and will endeavor toward vengeance.”
“He even knows about Zoll!” Kaila thought. “And the Baron told me that he had been given a veil that not even Freund’s probes could detect or penetrate! Feeling like a third rate dip-shit right now! God, how did I ever get into this man’s mind and plant that bomb?!
“We’re not the sort that will try to keep people who don’t want to be kept,” Kaila replied. “We’ve got ourselves something of a sisterhood leadership forming, and if it keeps going the way it started, we should be able to level up out of this nose dive and carve a niche out of some remote place for ourselves.”
Freund took a few steps closer, looking as if he was deep in thought. He started to circle around Kaila, but stopped and turned to face her. “A sisterhood, eh? Then I have something for you!” Waving his left hand away from his side, the stasis-pods containing the two Chevalierras appeared. “Allow me to return to you Chevalierra Shuronne Jassity and her Second.” The refusal to call Shanvah by name was not lost on Kaila and she suppressed a smile, recalling how she herself had suffered several run-ins with the younger attendant of the High Priest. Aleesha had kept the assassin from killing the little tramp on several occasions.
“They are attendants of the High Priest,” Kaila pointed out.
“A High Priest awaiting execution,” Freund added. “I cannot speak for the younger and rather foolish woman,” he said, making another gesture. The waking body of Shanvah was shoved three meters and she rolled to a stop, moaning in pain. Shuronne, however, looked to be waking from a deep and restful sleep. “But this one… she needs something to believe in. The Priest has already failed her, as Xaythra failed you. Give this one a worthwhile quest, and mind that you do not get in her way.”
“Hopefully the quest I have in mind she will find worthy of her efforts,” Kaila said, smiling at Freund.
“I am almost sure she will. Not bad for a perverted longshot, eh?” Freund chuckled.
“Now you’re just showing off... again!” Kaila said, offering Shuronne her hand. “Easy, my Lady. I’ve got you.”
“That you do, and we have the terms of this trade, yes?” Kaila nodded as she received a telepathic image. After only a brief moment of consideration, the young assassin nodded. “And in speaking of showing off,” Freund said quickly, lowering his voice. “That particular talent of yours.”
“Arcane Ambling?” Kaila asked.
Freund nodded emphatically. “I would keep that card close to the vest, if I were you.”
“If Survaysi has her way, only you and I will know that I can do that,” Kaila advised. “Zoll already killed the one who taught me.
“But how did you remove the bomb?” she asked. “It was rigged to blow the moment directed ThoughtWill came close to it.”
“There are many roads that lead to tranquility, my child,” Freund replied. “ThoughtWill is the chief weapon of my arsenal…”
“But it’s not the only weapon,” Kaila said, nodding. “Understood! And my apologies, Master. You are not at all what I was told you were.” Kaila faded, returning to the waking world while Freund remained in the land of dreams.
“Shall I, Master?” Star Lark said, as the blackness dropped to the floor of the chamber, compiled, and stretched up from the floor, filling out into the form of Tolarra Nyss, the herald of Freund.
“Please,” Freund said, placing the location of the device in her mind. Shifting to coherent light and then to radiation, Tolarra was able to pass through the man’s skin, find the device, and surround it with light. Freund quickly removed the small pod of light and looked inside to see the bomb.
“Ingenious!” he whispered, looking at the device. “It would seem that this Baron Zoll is a most resourceful young man.”
“You mean ‘was’, don’t you?” Lark asked.
“We could hope… but why waste the time,” Freund quickly replied, still examining the bomb. Apparently Zoll had taken to following behind Freund and had managed to collect a sizeable proportion of the blind man’s ThoughtWill energy. When Freund started thinking of all the places he had been, using his abilities, the chances of picking up traces of that energy were overwhelming. “And that is of course assuming that he hasn’t put together that Isse uses power from the same source,” Freund thought, seeing how the collected energy had been given enough sentience to introduce one desire: the destruction of its creator. “… but there are better things we could be doing with that time and energy. This device is indeed remarkable and quite powerful; it would not have killed me, not alone. But it would have definitely crippled the flow of ThoughtWill in my vicinity, as well as my ability to concentrate.”
“Leaving you with only your meager skills as a grandmaster of several fighting techniques,” Tolarra said sarcastically.
“I would have also been robbed of the ability to hear, smell or feel,” Freund added which caused Star Lark to wince in sympathetic pain. “Indeed! Alphexeous had a saying for such a position.”
“Sweet and sour milk!” Tolarra said, having heard the saying herself. “I don’t suppose you can shed some light on that little colloquialism, could you?”
“Are you certain you wish to know?” Freund said as their transit back to his castle was completed. He started toward the game table as Tolarra put her fists on her hips and sighed.
“That’s the same crap Chiaro used to ask! Why don’t you people ever answer questions with answers?!”
“It is a sign of love, Lark,” Freund replied, closing his eyes. He could feel a d
efinite change in the chessboard. Some of the pieces were cold and without definition, or even ambition to become something else. Freund had not stopped Neve and her followers, but that had not been his objective. He just knew he had to delay them, and while he was content with the outcome, he was disgusted with himself when he considered the cost of his new advantage.
“So let us begin again,” Freund thought. “Though it might be some time before a representative of yours makes their way here resume the game. Still, I know better than to waste a given opportunity. While Neve sees to herself, I will see to my pieces!”
“Yes, I’m sure I want to know,” Tolarra finally said.
“Sweet and sour milk is the only thing that comes from the legend-dairy,” Freund said without lifting his head. Tolarra shook her head as her arms dropped down her sides.
“No bracing,” she muttered, withdrawing from the room to give her master time to plot and scheme. “No amount of bracing could prepare someone for that!” Reaching the double doors, Tolarra stopped and turned to face Freund.
Anticipating the reason why the woman had stopped in mid-exit, Freund decided to answer the question before Lark could ask it. “I will remind you that the High Priest Gregoran is an agent of mine. After I received his report, both he and I presumed that Miss Montrose would soon come looking for me.”
“But that doesn’t explain how you knew so much about her,” Tolarra contended. “That veil she spoke of is still around her mind.”
“And will probably remain that way until Zoll is dead,” Freund added.
“So how did you know all of that stuff if you didn’t read her mind?”
“Who says I knew anything?” the blind man posed as he took a seat next to the game table. “Go back in your mind and review what was said. I presented myself as someone in the know and I simply allowed her to make all the assumptions she wanted to. A few of them were made by her Survaysi, but Gregoran was responsible for that.”
“I’m not following,” Tolarra quickly said.
“It is rather difficult for anything with such a vibrant life force to sneak up on a Priest that is also an automaton gifted with the use of ThoughtWill,” Freund advised. “Gregoran knew Survaysi was within earshot when he spoke to Baron Zoll. Calling me a god-killer had the exact effect he anticipated. Their leader was too focused on the matter at hand to actually hear Gregoran, or feel Survaysi’s soft approach.”
Star Lark folded her arms, smiled and leaned against the doorway. She shook her head and looked down at the floor. “And the idea to make a soft approach… where did she get that from?”
“Who’s to say?” Freund replied, putting his hand to his chin. “After all, Zoll only saw fit to give his assassin a means to keep her mind protected from mine.”
“What a disappointing oversight,” Tolarra weighed, taking a place of authority she knew she did not possess. “But hey, he’s young. This is when he’s supposed to make mistakes.”
“And, no doubt, improve from making them!”
** b *** t *** o *** r **
“We are ready to get underway, Mistress,” the soldier reported as he stepped away from the helm console of the ship. Survaysi acknowledged the report.
“What is the status of our away-team?”
“They are boarding their shuttle, Mistress. The final count was exactly one hundred fifty thousand bodies.” Survaysi grimaced before shaking. “The account just received a transfer of fifty million credits!”
“Fifty?”
“Yes, Mistress. The account received the funds along with a message. It reads: For your maintained discretion.” Survaysi shook her head and took the Captain’s chair.
“He wants to buy our silence,” Survaysi said, checking the charted course. “… I can see where an extra five million credits secures that, though there is something obviously off about anyone on that ship. The guy’s surrounded by clones! Whatever, it’s not our problem.
“Raise Aleesha and advise her that we are en route. She’s got three days to pack her bags and be ready. We will not be docking, repeat, we will not be docking at the spaceport.
“Mind on your work people,” she commanded when she received the report that the away-team’s shuttle landed safely. “Prime engines and bring our nose around.” The ship’s thrusters fired and Survaysi turned her attention to the small monitor on the arm of her chair. She had a clear view of the airlock where Gregoran and Hanvashi had been placed. The newly promoted Arch Bishop was the picture of faith in action, screaming and trying to run back and forth in the room, only to resolve there was not enough room for such things. He banged on the inside door and screamed.
Hanvashi, on the other hand, was very still and seemed to notice that he was being watched. He looked up at the camera and held up two fingers as he coughed up more blood. The former Second of Five did not flinch as another purge wave moved through the chamber. Again the thrusters fired, and the turning of the ship was brought to a stop. The outer door of the airlock opened and the two bodies were swept out into space in an instant. The three main guns fired two volleys each, and the forward engines engaged after the sixth shot exploded.
** b *** t *** o *** r **
He waved from the raised platform, smiling as he watched the ship speed away. L. Austin Eveentoos held his handkerchief between his index and middle fingers of his left hand. He waved it about and then touched the scented fabric to his nose.
“And they left without saying goodbye,” Austin stated, feigning sadness, brushing back his jet black hair. He snorted as if to keep from crying and touched the handkerchief to his nose again. The door to the massive observation chamber opened and Virgil walked in, carrying a tray of herbal tea. He was a slender man with a near perfect ratio of height to weight. His blonde hair was pulled back tightly into a French-braided ponytail. His soft brown eyes seemed distracted. “Make sure we track every single credit of that account,” Austin ordered. “I want to know where they are and what they’re buying! There may be need to meet with them again sometime in the near future.”
“I highly doubt that,” Virgil remarked. “They are a scattered filth.”
“Virgil!” Austin snapped, turning away from the glass. “You are getting along in your way, aren’t you?” he asked, taking a seat so that he could be served his tea. “The older you get, the saucier. Anyway, what of the two live bodies we recovered?”
“They are both in stasis,” Virgil advised. “… and I think you will want to personally see to both of them as they are both… unique.”
“Then it was not a wasted effort,” Austin surmised.
“That ship is still in range, you know,” Virgil pointed out as he began to pour the tea. “One or two volleys from the cannons, and we launch a missile. Surely that comes out cheaper in the long run.”
“It’s not about money, Virgil,” Austin quickly replied. “How many times do I have to tell you that?”
“At least once more.”
“You’re impossible today!” Austin weighed before realizing. His blue eyes flashed with discovery. “It was that scanner, wasn’t it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Virgil said, putting the teapot down and turning to leave. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll–”
“But I don’t excuse you!” Austin spoke over Virgil, his eyes squinting at what was normally a very pleasant fellow to be around. “Now, out with it! It was that man and his awful scanner, wasn’t it?”
Virgil looked around the room before straightening his morning tuxedo. “Must they use that word? Clone!”
“Well, apparently coming from a woman’s womb is not a promise one will be able to demonstrate courtesy and sensitivity,” Austin replied. “But take heart, brother. The scanner was able to see you as a clone… it did not identify me as one! It won’t be much longer now and the process will indeed be perfect.
“Which brings me to more important things,” Austin said, taking the saucer of tea and sampling the concoction. He smiled his
approval and started for the wall. Not quite halfway across the room, the wall came alive with pictures and data feeds scrolling across the top and bottom. “What was our… haul? Oh, I simply love to use that word!”
“Their… scanners put it at 150,000, but the real count was 217,644; and you were right, this particular part of the debris field was more densely populated with bodies.”
Austin chuckled, smelling his handkerchief. He shook his head and held up his finger. “Do not be too confused or enthused, my brother, that wasn’t science at work, just the placement of coin in the proper hands. A few bits to influence the scheduling of the work shifts… a few more to have the workers on those shifts take bodies in heavily armed garb or military uniforms and deposit them into robots that would then place the recovered bodies back into the debris field at these coordinates.”
“Why did you pay them so much for these dead people anyway?”
“Again, it’s not about money,” Austin replied. “We just barely managed to exhaust the Nefferek account in this endeavor. How is he, by the way?”
“He is still resisting,” Virgil noted. “It slows the process. We should have him copied within the next three days.” Virgil motioned to the interplanetary map where a course had already been highlighted. “This will put him at the Prism Baronies a day behind his posted agenda. I have already had his ship scored with laser burns and sent out the necessary probes to transmit calls for help at the appropriate locations.”
“And the story there?”
“Pirates,” Virgil stated with a certain sense of pride. “There have been reported sightings in three different places along his route. We keep his fighter escort and his own ship will be damaged. I even remembered to use the updated pirate weaponry. It is highly doubtful anyone will question the report we will have our agent file.”
“You see,” Austin said in triumph. “… and you said it was silly to pay for weapons we’d never use… and we should not order more than they need.” Austin cackled, albeit briefly, and Virgil nodded in agreement.