Fearful Symmetry (The Robert Fenaday and Shasti Rainhell Chronicle Book 2)

by Edward McKeown

  “Yes, sir,” Tanaka rasped.

  He shook his head. “No, don’t call me sir. We are more than that, aren’t we? You kept me alive when I was a child in training, already a target. You’ve watched my back every day since then. Have I used you so ill?”

  Tanaka was still for a moment, then her hand, in an uncharacteristically uncertain gesture, fluttered to touch his face. “No,” she whispered. “You have not, but I have not always been so lucky.” She turned slightly away. “When I was young, I served in Pard’s personal guard. I did things in his service I try not to remember, especially against House Bremardi. Sometimes, when I am walking, I suddenly see a face belonging to someone long dead. When I look a second time, I see it is not them, but for a second my blood chills and my heart stops. Nights are often worse.

  “People died. Not because they threatened Denshi, or the Order of Geneticists, but because someone wanted their wife, husband or lover. Trivial reasons: to advance careers, for money, for stupid slights and differences. They didn’t just die, they died badly, to make a point. I grew disgusted and disillusioned. Pard judged me unsuitable for his SWAT team. Too many scruples.

  “I went to security, hoping to outlast Pard, hoping to see Denshi turn back to the days when there were rules. When children and the helpless were not considered valid targets and the Engineered did not use assassins to quiet all opposition. Instead, I saw Antebei, only a teenager, but already on his way up in Security. They rush you Engineered into adulthood so soon. After he murdered his governess, I realized worse was to come unless I did something about it.”

  She looked up at him. “I looked for someone else to serve, to develop as an alternative to Antebei and those like him. Someone with a shred of conscience. You were the same age as Antebei, but you were different. I remember how books and videos of King Arthur’s knights and the ancient samurai fascinated you. You dreamt of fighting dragons or other great warriors, not murdering old women and children. You wanted to be a hero and understood that meant there were things you could not do. There had to be some difference between you and the villain.

  “You,” she said, her eyes bright, “became my hope for something better in Denshi. Some return to what we had once been when Denshi served as an alternative to war. A way to keep conflicts between the powerful and leave common people to their lives. So, I left Security before Antebei rose high enough to stop me. I looked out for you until I could persuade Special Operations to take me on as your bodyguard.”

  “You never told me,” he said, his face slack with astonishment.

  “In the beginning it would not have made sense to you. Later, Pard became interested in your career. I did not want trouble between you on my account. It was the past. One learns to let things go with age.”

  They stood side by side, looking down. Overhead, the stars and rings grew visible, hard and white. In the distance, thunder rumbled. A storm was coming from the mountains.

  “You should have told me sooner,” Vaughn reached into his vest, pulling out a 12MM Ingerbretsen pistol. Only an Engineered could hold onto the monster when it fired. He popped the magazine and checked the rounds. “You know,” he said absently, “I should get that laser pistol you are always talking about. I still don’t like weapons that reveal where you are, but they are good for close range.”

  Tanaka stared at him, suddenly afraid. “What are you going to do?”

  “Something I should have done long ago,” he said. “I’m going to kill Antebei.”

  “I’ll help you,” she said. “We’ll do it together.”

  “No,” he said. “You were right the first time. You’re my bodyguard and can protect me even against another Engineered, but if you draw on him first, they’ll hunt you and your family. Leave him to me.”

  “Promise me something,” she demanded, her arm on his, her dark eyes intent. “See how the ground lies, watch for an opening. See if Pard is not a fool.”

  “As you wish,” he gave a small smile, “my guardian angel.”

  Suddenly there were tears in her eyes and in the biggest surprise of his life, she threw her arms around him and hugged him hard.

  *****

  Shasti knew something was wrong as soon as she entered the apartment. Jenner greeted her at the door with a nervous expression. Behind her, Rigg sat in a chair, his head in his hands.

  She put down the bag with her equipment in it and turned to Jenner. “What’s happened?” she asked, foreknowing the worst.

  “It...it was just on the news,” Jenner stammered. “I am so sorry, Shasti. There’s been an explosion on the Sidhe just as they launched a shuttle. Captain Fenaday was on board. Space Guard is going up. All they see on the screens is wreckage, nothing else so far. I am so sorry.”

  Rigg stood up and walked over. He knew better than to touch her, but there was sorrow in his deep voice. “I am, too. You know I liked Fenaday, even admired him.”

  Shasti felt a terrible remoteness wrap her. She had never wanted to sort out her feelings for Robert Fenaday. It was enough she felt happy with him, enjoyed his presence in a fashion she did not enjoy anyone else’s. The why of it had never been resolved. It struck her suddenly that he was the only person who ever asked her what she wanted. He thought about her. Not always in big gestures, as on Enshar when he refused to leave her trapped under a beam when they thought a Shellycoat was just behind them. It was in the little things, like taking a supply of chocolate down to Enshar or asking for a painting of hers for his cabin. Now, dead? Not to be seen, touched again? It was unreal.

  Jenner put a hand to her arm. Shasti focused on her, frightened that it took her a second to remember who the Olympian was.

  “Please, sit down,” Jenner said.

  “No,” Shasti said distantly. “I have to go now. I found Pard. I know exactly where he is. I have to go kill him.”

  “Shasti,” Jenner pled, “think sensibly. You are in no state to do anything. We haven’t planned—”

  “No,” Shasti repeated in the same flat, absent voice. “I have to go. I’m sorry. You will have to escape as best you can.” Shasti turned back toward the door, picking up her pack. The rest of what she needed was in the cargo compartment of the cycle she had bought.

  Rigg reached forward to stop her. Her head snapped around, sheer murder in her eyes stopping even the tough ASAT. Shasti seemed to focus on him for a moment. The maniacal stare faded. “You can’t help me, Dan. You’re not recovered enough.

  “Leda, you’re a good person and brave, but not much use in a fight. Dan needs you. I’m sorry to abandon you, but there is one thing left for me to do. Kill Pard. Not only for what he did to me, but for Robert. He was my friend. I only ever had one.”

  “Two,” Rigg said.

  “Three,” Jenner added through tears.

  “Maybe if there is a next life,” Shasti said, “I’ll be able to see and understand such things.

  “Good-bye, my friends. Farewell.” Shasti opened the door and slipped out.

  Jenner broke into hopeless tears. Rigg put an arm around her.

  Shasti sped down the stairs. She felt oddly light, no fear, no worry, no future. Thoughts of Fenaday hurt. She kept those at a distance. They could stay at that distance for a little while longer, till she finished her one remaining task. Pard had hurt her again. She would kill him or die. Either way, he would never hurt her again.

  She mounted the cycle and looked skyward. “Good-bye, Robert,” she whispered to the night sky. “I should never have told you about Pard and I should have told you if I ever loved anyone, it was you.”

  Shasti focused her mind on Pard. “For both of us,” she said starting the bike.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Salmot roused Pard shortly after he had turned in. Pard always slept alone, even if he’d bedded one of his favorites earlier in the evening. Tonight he’d retired early.

  “What’s happened?” Pard asked, suspecting it could only be bad news.

  “There’s been an explosion on the
Sidhe, ten minutes ago,” Salmot said. “No details are available yet. Admiral Rissi says the ship is dropping. It looks like she’s heading for a landing in Marathon.”

  “Interesting.” Pard stretched muscles capable of bending steel bars; the joints cracked. Lately, he found himself stiff in the mornings. Today it seemed worse. Age, he thought, even we can’t engineer that away. At least, not yet.

  Pard dressed, armed himself and followed his aide-de-camp to the oak-lined conference room in the center of his office tower. He’d ordered it done in a medieval style, like some ancient king’s court, and proofed it against even heavy rifle fire. Heavy wooden chests and other antique furniture surrounded the fifteen-hundred-year-old table brought out from Old Earth itself. Original tapestries hung on the walls.

  The others took longer to arrive: Oldark, crèche brother and former rival, also aged in the service of Denshi. Vaughn entered with his shadow Tanaka, followed by Alexa, Pourlos and the others. The heart and mind of Denshi trooped into the room. Pard seated himself at the head of the immense table. Salmot stood behind him.

  Antebei entered last, making his usual grand entrance, accompanied by his guard, Chatelaine. He looked well pleased with himself and nodded to the others, save his childhood rival, Vaughn, as he took his place at the table.

  At a nod from Pard, Oldark began. “There’s been an explosion on the Starship Sidhe. The vessel is damaged, apparently severely as she is dropping out of orbit. The Port Authority says she is back under control, making for a landing at Marathon.”

  “The big news,” Antebei announced with a cold smile, “is that the stain on Denshi’s honor has been removed. The explosion destroyed the shuttle Pooka with your enemy, Fenaday, aboard. They are screaming for Search and Rescue, but we deem there to be no chance.”

  Everyone turned to stare at Antebei. The triumph in every line of his body made it obvious. Pard closed his eyes, as if in some small pain. “You arranged this,” he said, his voice calm and even.

  “Yes, Lord. That animal insulted Denshi, and worse, you, in public. Unlike some,” he glared at Vaughn, “I’m not prepared to let such attacks on our power go unchallenged.”

  “Attacks on your vanity, you mean,” Vaughn said, his mouth a grim line.

  “You value our Lord’s dignity as lightly as your own,” Antebei snapped. “He insulted Denshi publicly. He even brought up that creature Rainhell and her assault on our Lord.”

  “And so,” Pard began in a deep voice, one that gathered strength as he spoke, “you took it on yourself to bomb the best known starship in all of space. You murdered her famous captain, a man celebrated as the savior of an intelligent species. You did all this because you completely fell for what Fenaday wanted: to make us strike at him, to pull us into the light, just as we approach the fruition of our greatest plans. You handed Fenaday what he sought. He’ll strike back at us from the grave. The Neos, the Bremardi, the Army and the Confederacy itself will pursue his public accusations against House Denshi. There will be investigations into places we could normally bar. We will be hounded. You have crafted a weapon and put it in our enemies’ hands.”

  Antebei’s beautiful face paled as Pard’s voice rose to a bellow, something no one had ever heard before.

  “I did it for you, Sir,” he stammered, “to avenge the insult.”

  “I am not vulnerable to words, boy,” Pard growled, disgust in every line of his heavy face. “This is not a schoolyard. This is power. True power, which you are manifestly unfit to command.

  “You’ve disappointed me for the last time. You are dismissed from our service. Go back to buggering your secretary. It’s all you are fit for.”

  Antebei’s face exploded in fury. The dismissal served as a death sentence for a man with so many enemies. He jerked upright, hand clawing for a weapon. With a curse, Vaughn reacted instantly. His left hand flashed under his jacket, emerging with the big-bore pistol. Vaughn’s round slammed out an instant before Antebei’s. His 12MM knocked Antebei backward. Antebei’s shot went into the ceiling, causing an explosion of plaster fragments. Antebei flipped over backward, firing while in the air. The round smashed into Vaughn’s right shoulder. Body armor under his silks stopped penetration. It still felt like a troll’s hammer.

  Tanaka’s laser sliced through air into Chatelaine before the man could fire at Vaughn. Chatelaine toppled, lifeless.

  Antebei landed on his feet, sprinting for the door, as everyone save Vaughn, Pard and Salmot hit the floor. He pegged a shot at Tanaka, but she dove behind a massive antique wooden chest. The shot struck the chest, blowing one end into splinters.

  “Antebei!” Vaughn roared as he leapt atop the massive table. His weapon bucked, armor piercing and squash-head rounds ripping alternately from its massive barrel. Two rounds hit. Antebei went down into a roll, again snap-firing on the move, seemingly unhurt even by the 12MM. Return fire burned by Vaughn’s face. Antebei surged to his feet, his face demonic with hate.

  Vaughn dropped prone on the table, his gunarm outstretched, firing. Antebei’s return shot blazed over him. Vaughn’s round caught Antebei between the eyes, slamming him back into a chair. Vaughn staggered to his feet, one arm dangling from his smashed shoulder. He walked across the huge oak table and looked down at the corpse.

  “These are from Paula,” he whispered, emptying his weapon into his rival’s face till the slide clicked open. Dizziness assailed him, and he eased down from the table to find Tanaka already at his side. He smiled at her anxious face as she pulled open his jacket to look at his shoulder. He waved her off. “It didn’t go through,” he said, “or my arm would be off.”

  Vaughn spared Antebei a final glance. “Looks like I am better made after all,” he muttered, “not so pretty, but faster.”

  “Of course,” he said, turning back to Tanaka, “now he looks more like a Picasso than a Michelangelo.”

  She shuddered and turned away from the corpse.

  Vaughn turned to face Pard.

  Silence and the smell of Chatelaine’s burnt flesh hung in the air. Pard had not reached for his own weapon. He sat with his right hand raised, forestalling Salmot, whose drawn pistol menaced the room.

  Watching the game to the end, Vaughn thought, the final test of your creations? Had to see how it came out? Damn you. Are we nothing more than racehorses? Would you care if I lay there and Antebei stood in triumph? Paula, you were right about us after all.

  He met Pard’s eyes to see pride and approval in them. For the first time in Vaughn’s life, he didn’t give a damn.

  The others regained their feet, eyes wary, hands on weapons, trying to figure out the new order and what options they had.

  Pard waved. “Put up your weapon Grigor.” The slim, deadly assassin holstered and tension dropped visibly in the room. Vaughn slowly put away his empty pistol, wincing at the move. Pain made his vision blur.

  “Are you fit?” Pard demanded.

  Vaughn swayed. Tanaka quickly butted her smaller frame against him, steadying the huge Engineered. “Yes,” he said thickly. “What are your orders?”

  *****

  Pard stared dispassionately at the body of Antebei. How could I have failed to see his weakness? he wondered. Perhaps I have grown old after all.

  “Gentlemen and ladies,” Pard began, “this fool has brought hard days to Denshi. With Fenaday’s death we will live under a spotlight. We must restrict our activities severely. Most important, we must not be seen to be the force impeding the investigations the Neos and others will demand. It will be difficult to keep the Army from exploiting this. Dominici will seek to remove our security people from the Spaceport.”

  “Perhaps the Army can be made to believe some other faction responsible, the Navy or the Bremardi?” Oldark asked.

  “No,” Pard shook his head. “Only the Navy and our people have access to the starship. Any investigation will confirm the damage is from a bomb. Assassination is our trade. Everyone will know Denshi did this.

  “I must apologi
ze to our House for allowing such a fool to rise so high among us,” Pard continued. Surprised faces turned back to him before resuming their carefully neutral expressions.

  “Please retire to your various centers and take all steps necessary to keep Denshi’s profile minimal for the foreseeable future. Move your forces around. Do not allow them to be pinned down by the Army or the Bremardi. Oldark, you will leave as soon as possible. Take Antebei’s people as well as your own. Watch them. They are not to be trusted. I will keep only my personal guard here.”

  The others nodded and rose, ignoring Antebei’s body, heading for the safety of their offices and troops. Each commanded a force of troops temporarily based at the compound. Pard rotated them through to provide additional strength and serve as quasi-hostages.

  Even with them gone, I will have several hundred men available, with still more in the city. I’d normally keep more troops, but Project Overman consumes so much of our resources. It leaves me in a weaker position than I could hope.

  Truth is, he thought, I slipped badly relying on Antebei. I believed him the stronger, unburdened by Vaughn’s archaic notions of honor. It calls my judgment into question for the first time in fifty years. Questioned once, it might be again. I may no longer seem invulnerable. I can count on little help in the days ahead. Time to work on that.

  He looked at Vaughn. He needed the victor to rally to his side. The younger man, with his Fourth Generation genetics, seemed recovered from the gunshot and no longer needed Tanaka’s aid to stand. His eyes, now clear from pain, showed nothing, though his arm still hung limp.

  “You were right,” Pard said. Start with that much of a concession, he thought.

  “That realization has come late for some,” Vaughn replied.

  Pard checked his anger; he needed the younger man.

  Tanaka nudged Vaughn. He looked down at her. Something passed between them.

  “Your orders?” Vaughn said again. Pard saw relief wash over Tanaka’s face and filed the fact for later consideration. He might need leverage on Vaughn.