Ranh

by Ian J Miller

  Then on top of that there were the four-namers. These were of even lower class, and those in the Guard were there for one reason only: their thuggery. They were uncivilized brutes, whose only joy in life was to intimidate. And they were often intimidating Tharryt, which he took to be a good sign that his future there was poor.

  Another group sat down behind him. They seemed excited; there was some sort of big raid on at three that afternoon. The thugs were so excited, for there would be kills. Now, there was life. Tharryt downed the last of his rather unappetizing breakfast and strode to where he would pick up his orders for the day. He was picking up his envelope when he noticed someone had dropped a small map of Tukhranh on the floor. Tharryt picked it up, looked at it, then felt shocked. There was a figure 3 written by hand, and an address was circled. He quickly memorized the address, hand the map back to the Ranhyn giving out the orders, then strode outside as quickly as he could. He opened his envelope and saw his assignment for the day: he was to carry out discrete surveillance on one Zander Thuygen.

  Apparently this Thuygen had come to the attention of the Conclave Guard while they were carrying out surveillance on Kuyrill Kazyn, and what he had tried to do was to climb in the front window on a ladder, under the pretext of cleaning windows. What was tricky was that he had signed into the student cleaning organization under a false name, and had he left it at that, he would not have come to the attention of the Guard, for the Guard was not the slightest interested in burglary and there were no obvious clues as to his identity.

  However, he had subsequently identified himself by reporting to the Guard the nature of Baht's search, which led to Baht's run, and his own problems. This Thuygen was clearly something of a birdbrain, which left the question, why was he given the surveillance task? The obvious answer was that Thuygen was unimportant, but they were giving the job to him because they were short of staff, and he was still available. Alternatively, it might be a test. Obviously this Thuygen had some connection with Kazyn, which would be the only reason the Guard were interested in him, so perhaps they were giving him the chance to redeem himself by capturing Kazyn.

  It hardly mattered. He had to get into Tukhranh and find this Thuygen. He must also find out who lived at that address he had seen on the map. He also decided to retain his identification badge, which was useful for persuading Ranhynn to do what he asked, but he would go mainly in plain clothes. This was the recommended plan for surveillance anyway, as it was undesirable to draw any more attention to oneself than what could not be avoided.

  * * *

  It was only after he had parked his vehicle to set up surveillance outside Thuygen's apartment building that Tharryt began to wonder about this mission. Any surveillance had to be carried out in an area well covered by surveillance cameras. He might be watching Thuygen's movements, or, as at present, lack of them, but equally someone at the Guard might be watching him. All of which made it difficult to work out who lived at or what was at the address he had copied. Normally, a Guard could use his computer tablet to find out such information, but if he did that, and anyone was monitoring his tablet use, they would know what he was doing. He had to consider the possibility that the map he had found had been left there deliberately so he would find it. It might be a trap to lure him into making a mistake. He would sit it out. Later he might have to revisit that thought, but three in the afternoon was still a long way away.

  It seemed to be getting closer, and still that Thuygen had shown little sign of movement. Either he was a very sleepy Ranhyn, a nocturnal one, or he was not there, which meant the Guard had sent him on an impossible mission just to test him.

  It was one-thirty in the afternoon and Tharryt was wondering whether he should go and check to see whether Thuygen was really there when Thuygen walked out of the front door of his apartment building and turned left. Tharryt eased his vehicle out and slowly followed. This was particularly annoying because if Thuygen looked behind, he could hardly fail to notice the vehicle, but Tharryt was not prepared to leave it where it could be vandalized. As it turned out, it was just as well he did not because Thuygen walked to a large parking building, and ten minutes later emerged in a vehicle. Fortunately for Tharryt, Thuygen turned and drove in the direction that Tharryt was already facing, so it was easy to follow.

  They drove for some time, then Thuygen pulled into the side of the road and stopped. Tharryt stopped some distance back, where he could watch but was less likely to be made. It then occurred to Tharryt that Thuygen was actually carrying out his own surveillance, and was watching a specific house. There was something wrong, and then Tharryt realized what it was: Thuygen was watching the address where the Guard were going to be at three. Now what? While following Thuygen here, he had noticed a small communications café about thirty meters past the butcher's shop just around the corner. He would risk going there on foot to use one of their computers to find what that building contained, and hope he did not lose Thuygen while doing so.

  What he found shocked him. That was the residence of the Seppets, which raised the question, was the Guard going to engage in a joint operation with the military, or was this some sort of coup? If he guessed and took action, he had better be right. On the other hand, if he did nothing and it was a coup, he might lose his only chance to get out of his present troubles. Which left the question, what was this Thuygen doing?

  The one thing he could do was to use one of the store's phones. He would contact the Seppets. Then again, why would the Seppets listen to him? It then occurred to him that sooner or later the Conclave Guard would trace any calls going to the Seppets, and if he tried to stay with the Guard he would be dead. No. Much better to contact them through that Claudius. He would borrow a phone. The Guard might trace such calls too, but Scaevola had given him another number to dial that strictly speaking did not go to anywhere. It was supposed to go to a house in Tukhranh, but apparently it was empty, and that human had put in a relay using Ulsian technology that the Guard would know nothing about, unless there was an extreme failure. He would get some bonus points with Scaevola, just in case he needed them.

  * * *

  Zander Thuygen had a plan. He knew he was sitting on a fence with very sharp palings, and he had to get off it, but he had to end up on the right side of it as well. The only realistic way he could achieve that, as far as he could see, was to locate Kazyn, and then he had to choose. He could either support Kazyn, or inform Cardinal Sender where Kazyn was holding out. His analysis of the situation was reasonably clear. The military Curia, or at least the Seppets, were at odds with the Conclave. Perhaps they were even planning a coup, and whatever they were planning, Kazyn was part of that plan. That part was easy; Baht was working for the Seppets, and Baht mainly worked for Kazyn. Therefore Kazyn was also working for the Seppets. His best chance to find Baht was to watch the Seppets, and try to speak with her when she came out. It pained him to have to plead for help from an unacknowledged one, but then again if the Seppets were using her, she must be at least a little important.

  He had been there for too long, he decided. Sitting outside the residence of the Seppets would probably bring him to their attention. He should leave. He was just about to leave when he saw five vehicles pull up near the entrance to the Seppets and block the exit. A number of the Conclave Guard emerged, fully armed, and they began running towards the front entrance way. Someone tried to stop them, and was immediately brought down with a beam weapon. The Guard charged into the building.

  Thuygen sweated. What was going on. He looked across, and two Guardsmen who had stayed with the vehicles were chatting, then one looked his way. Thuygen made a big thing of turning on his batteries, looking back over his shoulder, signalling, and then pulling out. The Guard sneered at him. Thuygen shuddered, then decided that he must drive very slowly. The last thing he needed was to be arrested by the Guard.

  He looked into his rear mirror, and was shocked to see another vehicle pull out. He drove really slowly. Why was this vehicle not overtak
ing him? Then he saw in the rear vision the driver say something to the Guard, the Guard backed away, and that vehicle continued to follow. That meant the Guard was following him. Now what? He decided to pull over and park, while he thought this out. The other vehicle parked.

  This was impossible. He put his head in his hands. There had to be a way out of this, but how? The good news was, the Guards were taking no apparent action. If he waited just a little longer, he should be able to come up with a plan. His problem was, they would identify him from his vehicle. Perhaps fleeing was the wrong move. Perhaps his best move was to wait until whatever was going on was over. Yes. He would say he was waiting for one of the Seppets servants. He had promised to take her somewhere. The chances of their checking were reasonably slim. Then again, maybe they would ignore him.

  * * *

  Seppet Methrell was sitting in front of a screen, coordinating some training with some NCOs, and she was annoyed by the persistent noise coming from her communicator. She kept pressing the "I'll get back to you" button, but all that did was to re-ignite another call. Finally, she was so annoyed she picked it up to turn it off, when she saw the text, "Urgent". Never mind feathers; she would have hide for this. She excused herself from the screen, opened up the communication, and found to her surprise it was from Scaevola.

  "Look, I am sorry," he said, "but listen. I have just heard that a contingent of armed Conclave Guards are descending on your place and probably will get there about right now. I have a bad feeling about this."

  "When did you hear of this?"

  "From a Guard source, about twenty seconds before my first attempt at getting hold of you."

  "Right. I see. Thanks for the call. I'll get back to you when I find out what is going on."

  It was then that Methrell heard some form of commotion at the front door. She closed off her training call and was about to go and see what the fuss was about, when she paused. It was just conceivable this was a serious problem, and she was unarmed. She would warn her father, but she could not go the direct way. Just in case, she would go via the armoury, acquire a weapon and maybe a couple of grenades, and, since she could hardly turn up to see her father while carrying a weapon, she would approach from the side door to his office.

  She acquired her equipment, and loped off in the direction of the rear corridor. She heard her father yell something, then there was the sound of a blast, then talking. The side door was open and she crept towards it, far enough to see what was going on.

  There, slumped on her father's desk, was a body, the head effectively blown off. At least four Ranhynn were talking, then she heard an additional voice: that of Tes. And that voice was somewhat happy with the turn of events, except that he pointed out that they had to find her. Methrell backed away. There was a cold fury within her, but she could tell that she had no chance for revenge right now. There were too many Guards.

  She made her way towards a computer and entered the internal surveillance system. Conclave Guards were guarding all the obvious exits, and suddenly she realized that that Kazyn was far from a fool. The escape route from the building that he had made, just in case he needed it, was the one route that seemed to offer any chance at all. She made her way to a side exit from the building, and, head down, ran as fast as she could across the open space.

  There was a shout at the same time that she made some cover. She turned and saw a Guard aiming a beam weapon in her direction. Time to see who was the better shot. She sighted the Guard and squeezed the trigger. The Guard fell, but two more came around the side of the building. She dropped one, and the other decided to take cover.

  Methrell ran straight towards the fence, and slid under the wire. She then took a small piece of wire, tied one end to the fence and one to the pin, then embedded the grenade in the dirt. Then she saw a Guard approaching so she fired again. That shot missed, but the Guard took cover. Methrell gave another burst, and ran for the road.

  To her complete surprise, there was a vehicle, right in front, with a driver sitting in it. She opened the door, pulled him out, and then she jumped in. Thuygen, terrified, jumped into the back seat at the same time there was a huge explosion, followed by parts of the fence and mangled body parts flying into the air.

  Methrell ignored her passenger, and engaged the motors. As she turned the first corner she saw that pursuit had started in the form of one vehicle behind her. The next corner was some way away, and when she got to it, there was still only one vehicle in her rear view. She turned left, then about thirty meters on, she turned left again. As she was turning, she saw to her complete surprise, her pursuer had reached the corner and turned right.

  As long as she was clever, she was home. The question then was, what then?

  * * *

  Tharryt saw Methrell get into Thuygen's vehicle, then Thuygen climb back in. He had no idea what was going on until he saw the explosion, at which point he began to form an opinion of what was likely to be happening. He followed Methrell, and when he was about to turn right, he saw further pursuit in his rear vision mirror. He followed Methrell down the longish street, and when she turned left, his rear vision was clear but very soon the pursuit appeared. When he turned the corner, and he saw that Methrell was just about to turn left again and get out of sight, he slowed, and when a vehicle appeared in his rear vision mirror, he turned right, and sped off.

  As he expected, pursuit followed him. As soon as he was sure the pursuit was following, and at some distance, he turned again. Once again, he waited until pursuit followed, then he took another turn.

  He was lucky. This part of the town rapidly turned into a maze of tiny streets. He stopped at one intersection where there were four exits, and waited for the next chaser to catch up.

  “Lost him,” Tharryt explained as he showed his ID badge. “He went down one of those lanes, so if we split up -”

  “And who do you think you're giving orders to?”

  Tharryt suddenly realized he was speaking to one of those stuck-up officers who was clearly out of his depth, but dangerous. Usually such officers were busy giving orders, but this one wanted to make a name for himself. “Sorry sir. It was just a suggestion.”

  “Yes, well, when I need a suggestion from you I'll ask.” He paused, looked around to see the others waiting for instructions, so he puffed himself up a little and said, “And what are you doing here anyway? You were supposed to be watching that idiot Thuygen.”

  “I was,” Tharryt said, as evenly as he could, “and I was actually chasing him.”

  “What? What was Thuygen doing here?” The officer was clearly surprised. Tharryt was also amused to note the expressions on the faces of the other Guards there. They had realized that this officer was in danger of getting himself into trouble, and there was no officer they would rather see deeply in the Cardinal's bad books.

  “I don't know,” Tharryt said. At moments like this, he realized, the nearest he stayed with the truth the better. “My orders said, watch Thuygen, and a little after noon, he got in his car and I followed. He then parked himself outside that building and seemed to be watching it. I decided to try to find out whose building it was, so I went into the butcher's shop -”

  “You mean you got hungry,” the officer sneered.

  “They had excellent liver,” Tharryt confirmed, “then when I came out and resumed surveillance, you guys turned up, and -”

  “And why do you think that was?”

  Tharryt realized his immediate future was now on the line. Time to be careful. “I don't know,” he said, “and since I wasn't given orders relating to this, it's not my place to think about it.” He paused and noticed the officer was unsure what to make of this, so he continued, “I assume Cardinal Sender got some information relating to a problem at the Curia. Anyway,” he continued, “I watched Thuygen, and suddenly a female came running out, shot at who I assume were Guards, got into the car, and they drove off. Someone shooting at the Guards was presumably the problem, or part of it, so I gave chase, but u
nfortunately I saw the back end of the car go into this road, but when I got here, there were four options. That's why I made the suggestion,” he added. Then after a pause, he continued, “Had we split up immediately, we might have caught him because he would have to slow down quite a bit down those streets, but I guess he'll be long gone now.”

  “I think he would have got away anyway,” the officer said, his voice now much lower, but threatening.

  “You're probably right, sir.”

  “You'll do a lot better for yourself if you'll put that in your report,” the officer said.

  You mean, you will, Tharryt thought to himself, but why not. It cost nothing, and any ally was better than none, and this officer would have to be an ally because there were the other witnesses. They would not challenge the two of them, but the officer would have to think they would most certainly challenge him if there were to be a conflict. “Of course I shall say whatever you think fit,” Tharryt said.

  “Excellent! Right, I guess this is over for the moment but don't worry. Well get that Thuygen sooner or later.”

  “And when you go after him,” Tharryt said, “I would like to be part of it.” This was sound. The Ranhyn philosophy was simple. If something went wrong outside your control, so be it, but you desperately wanted to be part of correcting it. Added to which, participating in a raid was an important step upwards. The officer had to believe he was staunch.

  “Of course. Of course.” The officer turned to the others and ordered them to split up and search for the vehicle. Tharryt said he would also search, and radio in if he found it.

  As he got back into his vehicle, Tharryt was happy that he had got out of that mess, but there was still the phone call. Since he had not given his name, he had not shown his badge, and since Scaevola had very sensibly not asked for his name, he would be in the clear on that for a while.