by C. F. Harris
I felt at the mental link again. Tried to see if there was any indication that Jorav was getting closer, but it was all fuzzy. I could sense a general direction of where he was, but I could also only get a feeling that he was far enough away that he wasn’t going to be any help right now.
I had to keep this guy talking.
“I can assure you I don’t plan on doing anything as mundane as all that,” a voice whispered behind me in perfect Terran. I shivered. That wasn’t a pleasant voice.
“I should’ve killed you when I had the chance,” I said.
“True, but you didn’t. So now here we are,” the voice said.
The assassin came around and smiled down at me. It wasn’t a pleasant smile. Then again I don’t think I’d ever seen a smile I’d consider pleasant from someone who intended to kill me. Those smiles were always so self-satisfied.
“So what’s the plan? We sit around here and wait for Jorav to come and kill you?” I asked.
I hoped Jorav was on his way. I could feel his irritation getting stronger. I hoped that meant he was getting closer, but this was all so new to me that I didn’t know. I tried to move my hand and was surprised to realize there was nothing holding me down.
“Oh nice. You didn’t bother to tie me up or anything. I guess that means I get to kill you myself,” I said.
I took a step towards the assassin. I expected him to make some move to stop me. Maybe pull out that stupid neural disruptor he’d used on me twice now. I was going to make him pay for that. He didn’t make a move. Just stood there with his arms crossed, a blue finger tapping on his bare tattooed arm, with that smug smile.
“What? You’re not going to do anything? This is going to be too easy,” I muttered.
That smile never wavered. If he was trying to get me to give up because I was afraid of whatever he was hiding up his sleeves, not that he had sleeves to hide anything in, then he was sorely mistaken. If someone trying to kill me gave me an opportunity to kill them then I was going to take it.
Except for the last time when I didn’t take it. Stupid Jorav and his stupid honor. Why did I ever listen to him? Sure I’d been just a little distracted at the time, but still.
I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. Besides, I could feel the emotion getting stronger and stronger from Jorav. I almost thought I could sense his thoughts. I needed to keep this guy occupied.
Only right before I balled my hand into a fist I realized his finger wasn’t quite tapping against his arm any longer. No, he was pointing to something. I knew I was going to regret looking to where he was pointing. He had something over there that was going to make me not want to kill him, and I really wanted to kill him.
But that something had to be important. That was how this worked. I sighed and followed his finger to the other side of the room.
Most of the place was bathed in darkness so it was difficult to make out details, but I could make out what he was pointing to easily enough because the only light in this place was coming from that end of the room. Though calling it a room wasn’t entirely fair. The place was massive, and that light fell on what looked like a dilapidated old wood stage.
Standing on that stage were several Livisk with blades drawn. One of them had their blade up against Commander Kehn’s neck and they looked like they were ready to do some business if I tried killing their boss.
I turned back to the assassin. Arched an eyebrow at him. Keep stalling. That was the name of the game.
“Seriously? You think threatening his life is going to be enough to get me to stop from killing you?” I asked.
The assassin blinked. For once he looked slightly off balance. Good. Off balance wasted time.
“Why wouldn’t it? He is one of your crew members, and I know for a fact from our intelligence gathering that you’ve been trying to get in touch with them.”
I waved a hand and rolled my eyes. “Please. I don’t even like the guy. The last time we met he punched me out. Is that the kind of person you’d bend over backwards to save?”
The assassin genuinely looked off balance. Which was exactly what I was hoping for. If he thought I actually cared about Kehn then he’d have both of us over a barrel. Maybe if he thought I didn’t care he’d just let the bastard go. Kehn might be an asshole, and I was still sore literally and figuratively about the way he’d punched me out at our last meeting, but that didn’t mean I thought he deserved to die.
Not to mention that I still felt that whole pesky nagging responsibility thing for getting him in this situation in the first place.
The assassin shook his head. “That is a pity. Then again you humans should have known better than to try playing politics here on the Livisk homeworld. You always learn the hard way that it is a fatal mistake.”
The guy sounded like he was working himself up to do something stupid like try and have Kehn killed. I couldn’t have that, even if I did figure that I was about to die trying to save my exec’s butt. But I figured if I was going to die anyways then the least I could do was try and die for a good cause.
I moved in while he was still finishing up his little villain monologue about politics. I wanted to laugh. It was the same with the admirals back on earth. They were always so busy thinking about ways they could one up each other in the political game that they never entertained the notion of someone coming up behind them and slugging them.
I did just that with the assassin. His eyes went wide as I hit him with the same one-two-three punch that I had before in each of his hearts. The only problem was this time he seemed to be ready for me to fight dirty and he ducked out of the last shot that would’ve really knocked him for a loop.
He came around and landed a hit on me that sent me flying. I slid against the floor and dust kicked up around me. I coughed and tried to wave the dust away from me. I tried not to think about what might be in that dust.
That hit should have knocked me out. It was way too powerful. Yet I only felt like I’d been tapped. That was weird. I also felt Jorav moving closer. I could almost sense his thoughts. He was definitely nearby. I just had to hold this guy a little while longer.
The assassin sailed through the air over me with his hand outstretched for a punch. I kept coughing as though I was incapacitated right up to the last moment when I rolled to the side. The flooring crunched under him as his punch landed and moved right through.
Okay then. Wood floor and not in great condition. I looked up to the stage, why the hell was there a stage here? Kehn still had the knife to his throat, but it didn’t look like his captors were going to use that knife any time soon. They were looking between me and their boss with uncertainty.
Their boss, meanwhile, was firmly stuck in the floor with blood running along his wrist. He looked up at me just in time for my foot to make contact with his chin. That pulled him loose from the floor as he went back and hit the ground, but no sooner had he hit than he was scrambling up and crouching down like a predator ready to attack.
“You’ve done well human,” he said. “If this was truly a mating challenge then you would have acquitted yourself quite well. Pity that this isn’t that sort of test.”
He reached behind his back and pulled something out that was all too familiar. The same damned energy weapon he’d used on me twice before. He held it up and pointed it at me, but didn’t use it. I held my hands up.
No point fighting when you knew you were going to loose. I didn’t have my bag, obviously he’d taken it from me after knocking me out, and there was no way to fight what he had there. Besides, I could sense the cavalry was coming. He was so very close. I could feel his anger mounting as he realized exactly what was happening here.
I channeled some of that anger. I could use it. I felt strength flowing through me from Jorav. Good. I needed it.
“You’re a coward,” I said.
“That’s the thing about being the emperor’s assassin,” he said. “Traditional ideas of honor don’t apply to me. It’s quite freeing when it comes
to dusting up little messes like you.”
He paused for a moment as though he was thinking of something. “It’s really quite a pity that I have to kill you, you know,” he said.
“Believe me. If you don’t want to kill me I’m not going to say anything against the idea,” I replied.
“You have spirit. You would be a good mate for Jorav, I think. Perhaps return some of that fighting spirit he’s been missing since the disaster that dishonored him.”
I blinked. This was weird. “You sound almost like you admire Jorav.”
“Oh I do. Very much. He is one of the greatest warriors our people have known even if he has performed poorly recently. Unfortunately business and personal feelings are two very different things when it comes to the job.”
He turned and looked at the stage. Turned back to me and smiled. “Do you know what that is, human?”
“I have a feeling you’re about to tell me whether I want to know or not.”
“Very astute. This is an area where humans were once sold back when the war started. It’s all done electronically, much more civilized, these days, but I think that moving away from these auction houses caused our people to lose sight of what you humans truly are. Vermin. The emperor intends to remind those of our people who are getting too close to humanity that there is a price for that familiarity.”
Inside I wanted to dance with glee. A villain monologue was exactly what I needed right now. I just had to thread the needle of keeping him talking and not letting him get to the point that he actually tried killing me or Kehn.
“And killing me is going to somehow do that?” I asked.
He shrugged. “There is a war on, after all. Besides, who am I to question the emperor’s will?”
The assassin made some sort of signal towards the stage. The Livisk holding a blade to Kehn’s throat moved as though he was about to kill my former second in command. I held my hand up. I needed to stall him. I didn’t need Kehn dead.
“No! Don’t do it!”
The assassin grinned. “So you do care for that one after all.”
I gritted my teeth. He just got me to give something away, damn it. I hated when that happened. I told myself it wouldn’t matter in a moment. Jorav was so close. I felt him trying to soothe me. To tell me he would be here soon. I just hoped it was soon enough.
“Maybe I do. What’s it to you? What would it take for you to spare his life?”
The assassin chuckled and shook his head. “This is a perfect example of what I was talking about. If I cared about humans or thought your species was worthy of consideration I might consider sparing your friend’s life. Thankfully I’m not distracted by either of those things, so it makes this much easier.”
He made the same signal a second time and the knife went up to Kehn’s throat. To his credit Kehn didn’t make any move to cry out or ask them to spare his life. He was going to face his death like an officer of the Combined Interstellar Fleet.
Or maybe he wasn’t going to face his death. Not immediately, at least. I could feel Jorav in the shadows behind us. I’d stalled long enough, and he hadn’t arrived a moment too soon. The rush of battle from him filled me. I felt him raise his arm. Something flew through the air and there was a sickening noise as a blade hit the Livisk holding Kehn. The knife went limp in his sparkly blue hand and he fell back.
I turned and stared. A shadowed figure who looked like death incarnate stepped out of the darkness in the back of the room. Jorav stepped out, his muscles rippling and a blade in either hand with numerous energy weapons attached all over his body. He sneered at the assassin.
To the assassin’s credit, something I never thought I would actually think, he didn’t react with anger or anything other than a shrug.
“It would appear Jorav has decided to join us after all. I was hoping he would git here in time for the fun.”
The assassin surprised me. He tossed the energy weapon he’d been using aside and reached behind him. He pulled a cruel looking blade out from where he’d carefully hidden it this entire time and bolted forward. For a moment I thought he was running for Jorav to join battle with him, but it only took the space of another moment to realize that he was coming straight for me and he looked like he meant business while I was standing around completely unarmed.
Oh. Shit.
14: Trust
Jorav:
I took a quick stock of the situation. It didn’t look good. Talia stood staring at the assassin who was bolting across the auction floor with a knife drawn. Behind her on the buying stage there was the officer from her ship that had hit her so dramatically when I brought him to see her, and there was a third Livisk coming up behind him with blade drawn.
I glanced at Talia. She locked eyes with me. She looked worried for the space of a breath, then she smiled and nodded.
I knew what I had to do then. I turned and bolted for the stage where the third assassin was making ready to eliminate Talia’s former shipmate. It was a sign of exactly how much influence she had over me that I made this decision without truly thinking about it.
I leapt up to the stage in a single bound and pushed Talia’s former second in command out of the way leaving a clear path between me and the assassin who was coming up in the darkness. My blade met his own and it was clear after a moment that he was woefully outmatched. If this was the best the emperor could send against me then his assassins had truly become inadequate.
A grin split my features. That was just fine with me. I wasn’t so crazed with combat that I wouldn’t take an easy victory when it was handed to me.
I felt the heat of battle even as I felt Talia’s mind opening to me. I’d known I was on the right track and walking into the correct ambush when I felt her consciousness returning and could sense that she was unhappy with someone or something.
It didn’t take a stretch of the imagination to realize that she was no doubt talking with the very assassin who had made life so difficult recently.
Now I was flooded with something that had never filled my mind even in the days when I was bonded with my former wife. I was flooded with the thoughts of a warrior thinking about how to best take down an enemy rather than a politician thinking about ways to subtly remove someone’s legitimacy in a game of politics.
This was far more straightforward. I felt Talia’s certainty filling my mind. Filling me with my own confidence. I felt stronger. More powerful. It was like the feedback that we enjoyed when we were mating, only this was giving me an edge in a fight and that was something I’d never known before. I’d heard it was possible from other mated battle pairs, but I’d never imagined the euphoria that would overtake my body if I entered into a pairing of my own.
I easily ducked a slash from my attacker’s knife. He really shouldn’t have brought a knife to a sword fight. I felt like my reflexes were faster than ever before. I felt as though I was more powerful than I’d ever been in hand to hand combat. I thrust forward and my opponent gurgled as the blade hit home.
Some assassin. If this was the sort of killer the emperor was throwing at his opponents these days then there was no doubt in my mind that I would have an easy time indeed making it through his supposed safety and doing what needed to be done.
I turned around and saw about what I’d expected. The lone assassin who’d attacked Talia in that alley was having a hell of a time taking her out. I felt that link growing more and more powerful as I realized that she was drawing on not only her own experience fighting Livisk, but on my own as well.
I blinked in surprise. I hadn’t known that was possible. It also felt as though she was somehow faster with the mental link. She seemed more powerful. As I stared in astonishment she landed a punch on the assassin’s lower heart that sent him flying across the room where he slammed into a wall in the darkness.
Talia seemed to have everything in hand for the moment. I moved over to her former first officer. This Commander Keen, or however his name was spelled. I was fine with pronunciation when it
came to human words, but the vagaries of their spelling over the simplicity of our pictographs often eluded me. Their language was as though a mad man had thrown a crazy assortment of words into a pot and let them boil to the point that they were still slightly undercooked and then unleashed them on an unsuspecting species.
It was a wonder they’d managed to achieve as much as they had with a language like that.
I reached a hand down towards her first officer. He regarded it with suspicion and his eyes darted to the blade in my hand, still slick with the blood of my vanquished enemies. Meanwhile in my mind I felt a roar of triumph and blood lust. I glanced over in time to see Talia landing yet another hit on her unfortunate opponent. This one right between his legs just as she had the last time.
She might be repeating herself, but it was working for her so I wasn’t going to take points off for style.
I turned back to her former crew mate. “If I was going to kill you I would have done it already.”
He seemed to take that as reason enough to trust me. His hand came up and grasped my own, and I lifted him with no trouble. He stared at me for a moment with a confusing mix of emotion that I couldn’t identify. I sometimes had trouble understanding how Talia was feeling unless I had the mental bond to act as a cheat sheet.
“Thank you,” he said finally with a slight nod.
“Don’t thank me. I would have let you die if it wasn’t for her,” I replied.
More anger and annoyance came down through the bond. I turned to Talia who had the assassin down on the ground and she was kicking him repeatedly and shouting something in her language that went by so quickly that it was difficult to understand what she was saying. The feelings flooding through the mental bond was enough to get the idea across to me though.
I decided it was time to intervene. I took a step down off of the stage that had once been used to sell Talia’s people. Our people had since moved to electronic slave markets which was far more efficient, but there was a certain poetry to this happening here of all places. A human thoroughly destroying the best the emperor could throw at her.