by Saxon Andrew
“Not really.”
“Oh?”
“Ka, I think he’s right about his freedom to choose who goes on this contract being out of his hands; he did say the Council specified that the top-two-assassins would be sent. The Guild Master has been taking full price on my contracts and pocketing half of it. He’d prefer to keep that going as long as possible but has no option when dealing with the Council.”
“That’s also why he hasn’t made an issue of the killings you’ve done outside the guild,” Ka replied. Tal nodded and shrugged. “So, my saying that I have a higher-rank really doesn’t hold weight, if what you’re telling me is true?” Tal shrugged again. Ka’s gaze turned back to the fire and said, “The killing is the easy part of any contract; getting close to the target is what makes it hard.”
“That’s true,” Tal responded.
“And you’ve also been killing very rich citizens that have the best security to protect them.”
Tal shrugged, “I have.”
“How many have you killed?”
“About four-thousand or so.” Ka jerked her head away from the fire to Tal and her expression showed her shock. Tal added, “But you deserve the Number One ranking because of the wealth you’ve made the guild, Ka.”
“I’ve only killed a thousand or so, since I joined the guild!”
“But you were paid an extraordinary sum for them. You’ve also had to get through to some of the most protected targets in the colonies to fulfill your contracts. You deserve your rank, Ka.”
Ka stared at him and then lowered her eyes, “I was called in recently to take a contract on a secret high-risk target. At the last minute, I was called off. Did you take that contract?” Tal stared at her in silence. “Did you?!” she persisted.
“I asked the Guild Master for the opportunity to make the effort and he could keep the payment.”
“And?” Tal was silent, and Ka peered into his face, “The President of the Council recently died from a fall off the top of his residence. The news agencies said it was an accident, but it sounded too good to be true. Did you do that?”
“Ka, the Council has killed more innocent people than any war humanity has ever fought. They’ve also taken more contracts than can be counted to remove anyone working against their plans.”
“That’s not an answer, Tal.”
“Let’s just say that he spilled his drink and slipped on it.”
Ka continued to stare at him trying to read his expressions, “I’m not going to tell you why I joined the guild.”
“But…”
“I know you’ve told me but I’m not telling you. However, I will agree for you to take the lead on this contract.”
“Don’t want it, Ka.”
“What?!” she said in shock.
“Look, if either of us have to wait for the other to tell them what to do, we’re dead. We’ll need to react quickly whenever we encounter a dangerous situation, there will be no time to ask permission. We have our own skills and talents and we need to be free to use them without hesitation.”
Ka hesitated then nodded, “Fair enough. However, it might be good if we share some of our secrets, before we go.”
“Why would you do that, Number One?”
Ka smiled, “If what you’ve told me is true, you won’t seek to take my place. I’m willing to make a trade with you and I believe that I will be better for it. I am bothered by one thing.”
“What is that?”
“This is not a revenge-contract we’ve been given. Are you really invested in doing this?” Ka asked, while staring into Tal’s eyes.
“If Earth is intending to attack the colonies, I won’t need to wait to seek revenge after it happens. The Council is right, Earth must be stopped from developing a stardrive.”
Ka relaxed and leaned in to Tal’s shoulder, “I don’t understand why the Council just doesn’t attack Earth and remove their warships.”
Tal tilted his head, “That’s easy to understand.”
“Oh? Why wouldn’t they do it?’
“Because they’d probably lose, and Earth would have a damaged warship with a working stardrive to study. If the Guild Master says their warships are the equal of the colony’s fleet, then he knows our fleet is not a match for them. I know you also wonder about why Earth just doesn’t take a stardrive off the cruise ships that visit earth.” Ka nodded before Tal continued. “I talked with a naval officer a while back and he told me that every stardrive on every ship in the colonies is put inside three-feet of chronide armor and is set to self-destruct if anyone attempts to tamper with it.”
“Even scans won’t penetrate chronide,” Ka replied. “The use of Chronide has made a number of my contracts extremely dangerous getting to my target.” Ka thought about what Tal said and realized he was right. This assassin was much more than she suspected. The jury was out on whether that was a good thing. She might have to remove him at the end of the contract; she’d worry about that then. Ka turned to the fake fire place and said softly, “We’re going to have to be extremely careful on Earth; the humans there are vicious and dangerous; neither of us have had to deal with that issue in the colonies.” Tal shrugged. Ka sat up straighter, “You don’t agree with me?”
“Not really, Ka.”
“And why not?!”
“You’re saying that humans on Earth are far more vicious and dangerous than their counterparts in the colonies?” Tal asked.
“I am!”
“What are you basing that judgement on, Ka?”
“You need look no further than all the humans that died in the wars fought on Earth. They number in the billions.”
“Let’s examine that for a few minutes,” Tal responded. “How many members does the guild have?”
“That’s a well-guarded secret, Tal.”
“I’m not looking for an exact number; just an estimate. We do know that each of the fifty-colonies have a top-ten ranking locally. And the guild has an overall-ranking of the Elite Top-Ten; that totals five-hundred and ten, right.”
Ka’s lips tightened, “I know there are at least four hundred members on every planet.”
Tal chuckled, “I suspect the real number is a great deal higher than that.” Ka tilted her head and pushed out her lips slightly showing her agreement. “How many contracts do you handle a year?” Ka just stared at him in silence. “Would I be safe in saying it’s more than ten?” Ka’s expression was sardonic, and she remained silent. “I’ll take that as more,” Tal replied. “Everyone knows the top-ten handles fewer contracts than the other guild members because their contracts are more difficult and take extensive planning to complete. I think the rank-and-file members of the guild handle more than twenty-a-month.” Tal looked in her eyes, “I want to be conservative and not over-estimate the numbers of contracts we handle.”
Ka nodded in agreement, “I think you’re on the low side.”
“Ok. Earth doesn’t have an Assassins Guild, Ka. If you want someone dead, you have to go out and do it yourself and you won’t have the training given to our guild members.”
“Like I said, that would make it more dangerous.”
“Now let’s look at the colonies. There are between four-and-five-billion people living on each colony. Ten-percent of the populations are wealthy.”
Ka interrupted him, “What do you mean by wealthy versus rich?”
“The rich work for and get paid by the wealthy. Thirty-percent of the populations are considered rich. The remainder are considered well-off or comfortable.”
“All you’re doing is stating information from the last census, Tal.”
“True, but you need to think about those numbers, Ka.”
“What are you getting at?!” Ka asked impatiently.
“At ten-percent, each colony has 400-million wealthy people that have more credits than they can ever spend in ten-lifetimes. They have everything they could ever want and struggle to make their days entertaining. If they run across someone that angers t
hem, what do you think they’ll do?”
Ka stared at him in silence, but Tal remained silent waiting for her to respond. “Are you suggesting they’ll take a contract out on anyone just because they were angry?”
Tal shook his head, “No, I’m not. They won’t take a contract out on another wealthy person because their survivors could return the favor. But if anyone below their station messes up, it’s nothing for a wealthy person to take out a contract; they wouldn’t even notice the price. And what danger does the contractor have to face from those that he targets that aren’t wealthy or extremely rich?”
Ka raised a shoulder, “Probably nothing. Before I joined the top-ten, I took contracts to kill entire families.”
“That’s the contractor not wanting any survivors coming after them,” Tal interjected and then continued, “Killing the less fortunate doesn’t cost near as much as taking out another wealthy individual,” Tal stated. Ka’s eyes narrowed slightly, and Tal lowered his eyes, “You’re starting to see it now. There are more than twenty-billion-wealthy-humans on the fifty-colonies. If only two-tenths-of-one-percent of them take out a contract each year, and I really think the number that do are a lot higher than that, then 40-million-humans will be killed by our guild every year. And the wealthy paying for those contracts don’t have to face any danger to themselves to kill anyone they choose.” Tal smirked, “Where would you be in greater danger; on Earth or in the colonies?” Ka remained silent as she pondered the numbers and he raised his shoulders, “Think about this. Earth blew itself up six-hundred-years ago and twelve-billion-humans died in the nuclear holocaust. Over the last six-hundred-years since that happened, more than twenty-billion-humans in the colonies have been killed by our guild. Earth has come nowhere near in its long history to the total deaths taking place in the colonies. The Council rules with an iron fist and our guild carries out its agenda. The danger of offending a wealthy person is something we must learn how to live with in the colonies. You know you’d be safer on Earth than here. You should also realize that to kill that many people a year would require a huge number of assassins in the guild. A lot more than we just discussed.”
“You’re sounding very treasonous, Tal.”
Tal laughed, “That would be true if I called what was happening a bad thing.”
“Aren’t you?! It sounds to me like you are.”
“Do you ever intend to have a child?” Tal asked.
“Of course!”
“With our extended life-spans of three-hundred-years, the colonies would be quickly over-populated and overwhelmed if that many humans weren’t removed every year.” Tal stood up, “The colonies need that many humans killed to make room for the women choosing to have babies each year. I accept this is the system we’ve developed to keep our populations under control; however, it makes us far more brutal and vicious than the humans on Earth. I just wanted to make sure you understood that.”
Tal went to the kitchen to get a drink and Ka couldn’t take her eyes off him. She didn’t realize the magnitude of murders taking place in the colonies and she suspected the clear majority of those living in the colonies didn’t know it either. To kill 40-million people a year, and the real number had to be much hinger, the guild was far larger than she suspected. Tal was trying to tell her something, but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. One thing was certain, this man wasn’t dumb!
Chapter Three
Tal opened his suitcase in the living room and took out two-strange looking devices. Ka saw him, stood up, and walked over to him, “What are you doing?”
“We’re leaving the day after tomorrow. One of the Guild Master’s bribers is on this planet not that far from here, I’m going to remove him now.”
“Why?”
“By doing it now, the Guild Master will be too frightened to do anything that might make us angry.”
Ka shook her head, “You don’t have time to pull that off.”
Tal stood up straight and smiled, “Can I trust you?”
“You can’t trust anyone, Tal, that’s the first thing we’re taught in assassin training.”
“I’m not talking about anyone, Ka; I’m talking about you; can I trust you?”
“No! Why would you ever need to trust me?” she retorted.
“Because I want to give you some things that will help our chances to survive on Earth. If I can’t trust you to not use them against me, then I won’t share them with you.”
“I don’t intend to share any of my top techniques with you, Tal. I’ll share some secrets with you but not my tricks of the trade.”
“That’s because you’re Number One and are forced to be paranoid because of it. Anyway, I really don’t want anything you have; all I want is to know that you won’t use what I give you against me.” Ka kept her expression neutral. Tal smiled, “I’m starting to be able to read you, Ka. You’re wondering if I’m insane.” Ka’s eyes widened, and she caught herself and forced a neutral expression. Tal turned to pull another item out of his suitcase and smiled, “Ka, I do not represent a danger to you. I don’t see any circumstance where that would be a possibility.”
“How do you get off saying that? The Number One Assassin is always in danger from every other assassin in the guild! Most of my life is spent hiding from being found by other assassins.”
“But I don’t want to take your place, Ka, and will actively avoid assuming the title.” Tal replied. “Truth be told, I prefer you survive this contract, so I don’t take the title.” Tal examined the device and continued, “I’ll tell you now that if something happens to you on Earth and you don’t survive, I will abort the mission and tell the Guild Leader it was beyond my skill to complete alone.” Ka glared at him, as he went on. “That failure will drop me out of the top-ten and I won’t have to worry about being number one. I will, however, be forced to run from the contract the guild will certainly put out on me.”
“You are the strangest man I’ve ever encountered,” Ka responded to him. “However, I will promise that if you agree to not pose a danger to me, I will not pose one to you.”
“Are you saying you trust me to keep my promise, Ka?”
“You’ve told me things that no other member of the guild would ever share. If they’re true, then I suspect you probably pride yourself on your integrity. Besides, how do you know I’m not lying to you.”
Tal laughed, “You just told me I couldn’t trust you, that reveals you are basically an honest person. I guess you’ve got me down, too. I will promise that I will never pose a danger to you and, if you need my assistance in the future to protect yourself, I will come to assist you.” Ka opened her mouth and Tal quickly added, “I do not expect the same from you.” Ka’s mouth closed. “I need you to remain at number-one.”
“I’ll agree to your proposal,” Ka stated. Tal stared at her and smiled. Ka rolled her eyes, “Don’t tell me you could see I was being honest?”
“Like I said, I’ve got you down now.”
“You aren’t serious about going out to remove the briber, are you?”
“I am.”
“You don’t have enough time to find him, much less remove him. And I suspect his defenses are not going to be defeated without a lot of scouting; there’s just not enough time.”
Tal smiled, “Do you remember when the last Guild Leader died in a car accident?”
“I do.”
“It happened in a protected community and his car went off a cliff into the ocean.” Ka’s eyes widened, as Tal said, “I was responsible for that.”
“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?!”
“He had to go, Ka! He was turning the guild into a personal army and was intending to overthrow the Council. However, before I sent his car over the cliff with him in it, I transferred his memories into a device that I used to steal all the passwords and entry points in the guild’s computer system.”
“Those wouldn’t do you any good, Tal! The new Guild Leader chosen to replace him would just change them when he
took power.”
“There’s always a way, Ka. A woman I did a killing for free is the main programmer of the Council’s Computer Network and I don’t believe anyone in the colonies knows more about computers than her. She gave me a virus to install in the guild’s computer before the new Guild Leader was chosen; that virus gives me access, such that I won’t be caught doing it. I have a…backdoor into the current system. I know where the briber is at this moment; you know how the guild keeps track of its members, and I’ll not take long in finding him.”
“Access to the guild’s computer makes you a very dangerous person!” Ka stated. “Possibly the most dangerous member of the guild I know.”
“And you can tell the Guild Master about this, if you choose. But you’ll lose your window into what the guild is up to. You might wonder one-day if the guild is thinking about removing you and I can answer that question for you. Just look at me as a personal resource.”
Ka shook her head slightly before saying, “You told me this to insure I wouldn’t pose a threat to you.”
Tal’s head went back as he chuckled, “Boy! You are starting to read me.”
“I didn’t read that; it’s just obvious!” She snapped back.
“You’re right.” Tal looked at his watch, “Alrighty then. I’ll be back later tonight, after I take care of our little briber.”
“Tal, you can’t just go out and walk right in on him; it could get you killed!”
Tal smiled, “The information about the guild computer was lesson number-one, Ka; lesson number-two is this.” Suddenly, Tal vanished. Ka swiftly backed away and pulled a device out that was hidden in her arm. She swept the room with it and suddenly, Tal reappeared, “Put that away!”
Ka kept it pointed at him and her expression showed her shock, “What…how…”
“I’ll teach you how to do it, later. However, I will just walk up on him and end the threat he represents. If it’s not too much trouble, I’d appreciate a meal when I get back. I suspect it will be before mid-night, OK?”
Ka put the device back in her arm and Tal disappeared again. She was starting to feel her fear growing. But if he wanted to remove her, he didn’t have to reveal what he just showed her; he could have waited and taken out the briber when they returned from the contract. This man was…she had no adjective to use to describe him.