Ranh

by Ian J Miller

  Meanwhile, two of the guards had drawn weapons and were peering out from their hiding places. There was another blast, and a guard pulled back in pain, but the other had seen where it had come from, and fired several bursts, while at the same time he informed the third guard. The wounded guard was not badly wounded, so he then began to give covering fire while the other two ran across the road and entered the ground floor of the building, which, as it turned out, was a music academy. There was no attempt to stop them, and it appeared that the shooter presumably had one target in mind, and when that was unavailable, it was time to make an escape. The shooting had apparently come from the first floor up, so one guard waited at the lobby elevators while the other climbed the stairs.

  The hallway on level one was buzzing with excitement. The return fire had smashed some windows and made a considerable noise, so everyone was aware that something had happened. The question was, what? The musicians from the street-side rooms had immediately grabbed their instruments and had run into the hall, while those from the rooms away from the street had merely come out. Accordingly, the hall was crammed with Ranhynn, half of whom were carrying musical instruments or cases for musical instruments. Unfortunately, there was also at least one other way out, thanks to fire safety regulations. The guard realized there was no way he could get any further, but he had to make some effort, so he began asking questions as to whether anyone had seen any Ranhyn leaving in a hurry. The answers were confusing; some had, but whether they were relevant was another matter. The guard strongly suspected that none would be helpful. The fact was, they had all been obsessed with the shooting, and nothing else mattered. With Ranhynn darting hither and thither, either to avoid the danger zone or to get to the danger zone to see what was going on, none of the reports had sufficient detail from which to draw conclusions.

  However, the guard did notice that the building had internal surveillance, so he decided to check the centre. This was not at all helpful, because someone externally had erased the necessary recordings.

  Meanwhile, once the shooting died down and her guards had apparently crossed the road successfully, Hadell made a dash for the library door, and breathed a sigh of relief when she made it. She immediately contacted the police, and demanded immediate attention.

  What that meant was that the police interviewed her for an interminable time, but all she could say was that she had been shot at. There appeared to be a pattern, as anyone connected currently with Earth in any way seemed to be under attack and –

  "Not true!" the officer said. "Nobody has attacked Scaevola, nobody has attacked his sister, and we do not know that anyone attacked the Terran ambassador. The attack could have been on that Seppet Methrell. It's not as if she hasn't been attacked before."

  "Seppet Methrell is not here," Hadell pointed out.

  "They might have thought you were her."

  "So what you are saying is that someone sat up in that music academy just waiting for Seppet Methrell."

  "It's possible."

  "So why would Seppet Methrell come to the Space Curia," Hadell said, then pointed a claw at the police officer's throat as she added, "and wearing the regalia of an ex-Tenzat?"

  "Er . ."

  "That was an attempt to assassinate me," Hadell spat, "and it is your duty to find out who did it, and not to stand around making inane comments to excuse yourself from doing anything." She stared and scowled as she added, "Your name and rank?"

  The officer suddenly became very obsequious, but he had to give the details, for to fail to do so would be a serious crime.

  "I want a copy of your report when you have finished your investigation," Hadell spat, then turned and walked towards the library.

  As she continued walking, she considered the situation. The officer had made one good point: neither of the humans had been attacked, however there was a good reason. To kill the Terran ambassador would eventually lead to war with Earth. If any part of the Ranhynn government wanted to do that, then killing Natasha now would suggest the value of a pre-emptive raid, before the Terrans became aware of what had happened.

  That nobody had attacked Scaevola may have been more fear that such an attack would not succeed. As a top Ulsian commander, he would have access to a type of body armour that would reflect beam weapons, and if he were wearing it, and with Ulsian body armour there was no way an external observer could tell, then the assassination attempt could be equivalent to committing suicide if carried out close enough to Scaevola, and if carried out far enough away, the launching of a minidroid would also lead to problems for the would-be assassin. There was a further point; if Scaevola were assassinated, the Actium might very well vaporize Tukhranh.

  As soon as the police finally concluded their questioning, one of her guards approached her and informed her of the erased surveillance.

  "Interesting," she said. "Nevertheless, the command to erase must have come from somewhere. Get some specialists to find out where that command came from."

  At this point, she received a call: Gaius wanted to see her.

  * * *

  She decided to wait until she found out who had carried out the erasing before she went to see Gaius. As she explained to Gaius later, the information was not exactly helpful; the command had come from a terminal in a disused building.

  "Actually, that may be more helpful than you think," Gaius suggested. "If you think about it, as you say, this was set up very quickly, so it's obvious that they are watching your every move, and we have to work out how they found out where you were going. But having done that, they had very little time to move. Setting up a new command and control base is extremely tricky in a short time. Unless there was a lot of activity around that place, it would be more likely that that had been a command and control base for some time. We need to ask some questions of the locals."

  "We?"

  "Therein lies the problem," Gaius conceded. "There is no point my going, and you would be too obvious as a target for a repeat attempt."

  "So how are you going to ask locals if you can't go?"

  "One option is to send a Conclave Guard," Gaius said, then smiled at Hadell's obvious curiosity. "To change the subject, do we know anything about the weapon that was fired at you?"

  "It appears the weapon was left behind," Hadell said. " It was identical to that which was used against Baht, and against Methrell previously. I have demanded that the police find out who had access to such weapons, but so far they had made no progress. Still, it has be the military, because they're the only ones with access to such weapons."

  "I'll take a small bet that it was one of Sender's Conclave Guard," Gaius offered. "It might be that only the military is supposed to have access to these weapons, but somehow Sender has acquired some, because we know it was Sender's men who used them against Baht. It would be unlikely that two different entities could get them from the military."

  "It would be possible," Hadell said, "but I tend to agree. But if you are correct, it raises problems. How do you intend to deal with the Conclave?"

  "We're a bit away from having to consider that right now, but let's stop and think what this means. We know Sender has sent men to try to kill Kazyn, and also Baht in an effort to get at Kazyn. The same sort of weapon was used against you, so it looks as if Sender is trying to kill you. I guess it's also odds on that he was responsible for removing Tallyn, and if so, that would mean that Tergyn is effectively a stooge for Sender."

  "So, assume you're right. Why?"

  "We have reason to believe that Sender is responsible for building a hidden fleet. What we don't know is what this fleet is for, but since it is being built secretly, we have to assume it is for some purpose other than, say, helping Ulse in its times of trouble."

  "You think he killed Tallyn?"

  "I'm fairly certain."

  "But you've no proof?"

  "Not yet. Now I need a favour."

  "Which is?"

  "I need to know how far this disease spreads. I want you to soun
d out senior Ranhynn that you can come across and see what they say."

  "You want me to spy for you?"

  "I think you might be spying, as you put it, for yourself," Gaius replied. "If they are out to get you, you need to know how many are in the "they" set."

  "Yes, I suppose I do," Hadell agreed. "I shall see what I can find out."

  * * *

  Tharryt was an unhappy Ranhyn. That Roman had located him and had asked him to do a job. Only a small job, for which he was eminently qualified, and which would earn him some valuable cash. Perhaps, but it might also get him into deeper trouble with the Cardinal. That meant he had to decide who would win, and it seemed obvious it would be the Cardinal, which meant that associating with the Terran was outright dangerous. Unfortunately, refusing the Terran was also dangerous, because all that Terran had to do was to inform Sender of the role of Tharryt during the break-in. That would be his death sentence.

  The job was simple. First, he had to leave a small device on his bed, then sneak out the back door and go and make an enquiry. There was a small apartment block that the Terran suspected had been a command and control centre for a surveillance mission, and had been used for some period until very recently. The Terran wanted to know who had been there. There were three obvious choices: the police, the security service, and the military, and Tharryt did not fancy his chances with any of these. If he turned up as an ordinary Ranhyn, the management would throw him out, or worse, call whoever had occupied the rooms. His one chance was to wear his formal uniform of the Conclave Guard, and hope he was not reported.

  He strode up to the entranceway and called for the supervisor, who came from a side room, took one look at him, and said, "You lot back again? Don't tell me you want the room again, because I have a long-term tenant enquiry and –"

  "You can let it," Tharryt said. "I just came to make sure there were no problems that you might not want to raise formally."

  A crafty look passed over the supervisor's face, and he obviously as considering something that might bring him in more cash, but then suddenly he must have decided that such a move could be considered as dangerous, so he finally said, "No, everything's fine."

  "Good," Tharryt said. "Now, one more thing. Has anyone come and asked about who was there?"

  "No! I promise! I've kept it secret. I won't –"

  "Very good," Tharryt said. "Keep it that way. Even I was not here."

  "No, no, of course not. I've never seen you be . . " He paused, as he realized he should not have said that. "What I mean is, you're not here now!"

  "Good, keep it that way," Tharryt said, and turned away. The good news was the idiot had been so frightened that he did not even ask to see Tharryt's identification card, which meant he did not have his name.

  Tharryt returned to his apartment, again by sneaking in the back door, then he quickly changed into ordinary clothes, including a hat and scarf to hide his plumage. He then poured himself a drink and sat back to think. This was dangerous, because it seemed that this Terran was on a collision course with the Cardinal. Under normal circumstances, there could be only one winner, as the Cardinal would crush any known opposition, but this Terran was different, if for no other reason than he commanded all Ulsian and allied space forces in the zone. That meant in principle the Ranhyn military would have to accept his orders, or declare war on Ulse. Then there was that Ulsian warship sitting above Tukhranh. Because of the position it had already attained, it could turn any part of this region to glass if Ranh declared war. Even then the Ranhyn Space Corps may not provide much of a threat, because unknown to just about all Ranhynn, the Great Conclave had reduced the Ranhyn military to a shadow of what it should be by dismantling many of its warships and sending the motors to the outer moon of that eccentric planet. The Ulsian could lay waste to most of Ranh and there was little they could do.

  In normal circumstances, even the existence of an Ulsian battleship would be almost irrelevant because Ulsians were notorious for not getting around to doing things. They would study a situation to death, then talk for an infinite time, or at least that was what he had been taught. There was none of the dynamism and brutal efficiency of the Ranhynn, or so it was said. Except that Terran did not conform; he was considered a brutal barbarian, totally without culture and thoughts of the better things in life. That meant if there were a need to destroy, he would not hesitate.

  So who would win? Or, more to the point, what should he do to associate himself on the winning side? His problem was, the Cardinal was the obvious one to win, but then the Cardinal would learn that he, Tharryt, had helped the Terran break into his country palace, in which case Tharryt would cease to exist, after a rather long painful demise. In which case he had to gamble that the Terran would win. But how?

  * * *

  Gaius' smile at Tharryt's nervousness was his only response to Tharryt informing him that it was the Conclave Guard who set up the surveillance.

  "It's true!" Tharryt protested. "Look, the supervisor was so terrified he would not lie."

  "I believe you," Gaius said. "I more or less suspected that in the first place, and you were only to bring me confirmation. Here is the money I promised."

  Tharryt could hardly believe the sum he was receiving, but he was still nervous.

  "I hope you don't think that is not enough," Gaius said, a little harshly, the threat evident.

  "No, no, not at all!" Tharryt protested.

  "You don't look very happy."

  "And I'm not," Tharryt said. "The Cardinal must find out sooner or later, and then I am effectively dead."

  "The Cardinal may not have a 'later'," Gaius said with a shrug. "The Cardinal is engaging in very dangerous activities."

  "If he suspects you think that, he will have you killed," Tharryt warned.

  "He may try," Gaius conceded, "but he had better do better than he has to date. In your case, I would not worry. If you think I will hand you over, the answer is I shall not."

  Tharryt gave Gaius an unenthusiastic stare before saying, "Thank you."

  Gaius nodded at Tharryt, and then said in a lower voice, "I can appreciate that you have a problem, and to help you, I suggest you think fairly carefully. At present, the Cardinal thinks you have both feet in his camp but in reality you have a foot in each camp. Ultimately, this is unsustainable because once the Cardinal begins to suspect you, as you say, your future is not very bright."

  "So?"

  "So you have to make a choice. You have three options: try to straddle both camps, or pick one."

  "The problem with picking one is the other one will kill me," Tharryt said in a depressed tone.

  "Not if the other one doesn't survive long enough to carry it out," Gaius pointed out. "Actually, I can give you this assurance. If you decide to go with the Cardinal, as long as you do not betray me, I shall ignore you. On the other hand, if you help me, I shall make sure your future is somewhat brighter."

  "If you win!"

  "If I win," Gaius agreed, "and I suppose that is not a given, but I assure you I have no intention of losing."

  "Neither has the Cardinal, and –"

  "No, but then again, the Cardinal has no need to know you are not fully devoted to his cause."

  "He might find out I am here," Tharryt pointed out.

  "How? He has surveillance cameras on you, if you want to know."

  "What? He'll know . . ."

  "He'll know you were in bed all day, slightly sick. I have arranged for a doctor to check you out, and when you return, sneak in the back way to keep clear of the Cardinal's camera, and when you get to your bed, you will find a certificate suggesting two days of sick leave."

  "The Cardinal will know the doctor is lying."

  "He will know nothing of the sort. The doctor is telling the truth as he knows it. He inspected you, or more precisely, an image of you, and his sensors recorded a slight viral attack, together with the associated temperature. Those readings were transmitted to the Tukhranh medical centre comp
uters, and will be there to support the certificate,"

  "How did you manage that?" came a bewildered response.

  "Through the device you left on the bed. Yes, the image could have been detected with sophisticated examination, but as far as the doctor was concerned, you had reported that you were sick and running a temperature. The image provided the data for his sensors, and also a blood sample that happens to correspond with your blood."

  "Where did you get that from?"

  "You will recall when I inserted that poison? Well, I also withdrew some blood, just in case. This seemed to be the time."

  "And the virus?"

  "I acquired a very small sample of a nuisance virus. My guess is the Cardinal will leave you alone for more than a couple of days, once they analyse the blood sample. You should expect to get a call suggesting you to stay out of contact with others for a day or so. With that information also sent to the Cardinal, as your employer, I doubt he will question you any further about today."

  "Thank you."

  "No problem. Now, your choices. If you tell the Cardinal what I have just done, he will kill you on the spot, unless he delays for a spot of torture. If you keep quiet, you can return to his service after a couple of days, which I strongly recommend you do. At that point, you choose. You help me, I shall help you later."

  "What do you want?"

  "Information. Anything you hear that you think I ought to know. But don't take silly risks to get it. Just keep your eyes and ears open, and when you get back to your rooms, speak quietly into the device you put on your bed. That will send the message to me, and the device will ensure that nobody else can get into your room without my knowing, and of course if you are useful to me, I shall protect you from that sort of thing."

  "What happens if someone sees that device?"

  "They won't. Whatever they see, it won't be that. They may see a pillow, an old coat, but I assure you they won't see that."

  "If they brought in a detection device . . ."

  "We'd know you'd been exposed some other way, and I would have to find you. Certainly, nothing is guaranteed and there will be risks. You choose. Remember, you don't have to make any choice until you get some useful information."