by Saxon Andrew
“I am. The Fleet is gathering as we speak.”
The Colonel glared at him and said, “Excuse me.” He walked away and looked at the man on his communicator, “Mr. Chancellor, I believe the Captain is telling the truth. If we force entry on his ship, it will precipitate a war.”
The Chancellor looked away from the Colonel’s display and said, “General, it appears we have lost the integrity of our ID system. Are you ready to fight a war with the colonies to protect it?” The Chancellor appeared to be listening and he turned back to the Colonel, “Remove your troops and apologize to the Captain. Make sure he understands that we don’t want to jeopardize our good relationship with the colonies.”
“Yes, Sir.” The Colonel looked at a Major and said, “Pack it up. Everyone move-out and board the transport.” He turned to the Captain, “Sir, the Chancellor apologizes for the display of force. He doesn’t want to jeopardize the good relationship we’ve established with the colonies and possibly stop the cruises that come here.”
“Thank you, Colonel.” The Captain looked at the troops rushing back to the transport, “Why did you bring so many soldiers, Colonel if you weren’t here to steal stardrive technology?”
“We have it on good authority that the two-spies are highly ranked guild assassins, Captain. I’m honestly not sure I brought enough.”
The Captain nodded slightly and lifted his communicator, “Call the Fleet off. They’ve apologized for their actions and are withdrawing.”
“Captain, we are keeping the fleet in formation until you depart.”
“Sir, the Chancellor has personally apologized and I believe this situation is over. He says he doesn’t want to jeopardize the good relations or the cruises that come to Earth.”
“You say the Chancellor offered his apology?”
“Yes, Sir, he did.”
“I’ll order the fleet back to their home ports. Tell them ‘no harm, no foul’.” The Colonel heard the conversation, turned, and joined the others at the transport.
• • •
Lis looked at Sig, “I imagine there were some tight sphincters while that was going on.” Sig nodded. “Do you think they’ll allow us to leave?”
“If they were going to stop us, they would have done it now.” Lis raised her shoulders in agreement, and Sig sighed, “I imagine we’ll see the Major now.”
“That should prove interesting.” Sig nodded as he watched the transport lift, fly away, and the boarding ramp extend out of the ship.
• • •
The Captain was furious. Two-high-ranking guild assassins were on board his ship and he had no idea who they were. He almost wished he had allowed the Colonel to come on board and arrest them. But that was out of the question. The guild was protected by the council and they would execute him if he allowed any Earth forces on board. He shook his head and boarded the ship.
• • •
“How did you know they wouldn’t be allowed on board, Sig?”
“Because the Captain and his commander are completely unaware of the power of Earth’s warships, Lis. The Council knows it and the Guild Master knows, but I suspect the commander of the fleet doesn’t know it. He thinks he could handle Earth’s military easily.”
“Earth knows they couldn’t?”
“I know.”
“What are you thinking?”
“They should have boarded anyway, Lis. They could have handled the colonies fleet easily, but they chose to not push it. Something else is going on.”
“Do you have any idea what it is, Sig?”
“No. Do you?” Lis shook her head and watched the passengers that ran away when the troops arrived start moving back to the boarding ramp.
The next morning, they sat in the cafeteria and watched the boarding ramp. About mid-morning, Lis said, “Here comes the Major and he has company.”
Sig looked at the boarding ramp and saw the Major and a woman walking up the ramp, “Oh crap!”
Lis nodded, “It appears Natalie has been brought in to this.”
Sig watched the Major introduce Natalie to the Cruise Director and she dazzled him with a smile. The Director nodded, and they entered the ship. “Why do you think she’s here with him?”
“He wants to show us we aren’t as good as we think we are.”
“Why would he want to do that?”
“He’s really ticked off that we fooled him.”
“So, you think he’s on to us?” Sig nodded with raised eyebrows. “What gave us away?”
“Socially inept Sig wasn’t so socially inept with Natalie.”
Lis rolled her eyes and exhaled sharply, “This should really prove interesting.”
“Let’s wait for him to find us, shall we?’
“By all means,” Lis responded.
They remained in the cafeteria until the ship lifted later that afternoon. That evening, the Major walked into the cafeteria with Natalie. He sat down at their table and Lis asked, “What took you so long?”
Duncan looked at her with a neutral expression, “I’m training Natalie to replace me and I had to go through the motions of doing that during the day.”
“It was an exciting day yesterday, Major.” Lis commented. “You should have been here.”
“I was. I was flying the transport.”
Sig looked at Natalie, “Sorry about this.”
Duncan jerked his head to Sig as Natalie’s face showed her anger, “You caused me to be reprimanded and demoted.”
“That’s because your leaders don’t appreciate your contribution. I’m sure the Major can straighten that out later.” Sig turned to Duncan, “Right?”
“What are you saying, Mr. Sig?!”
“Would you be here if she hadn’t told you about us.” Duncan glared at him. “Would you?” Sig repeated.
“Probably not.”
“Then she should be rewarded instead of punished.”
“She should have made you!” Duncan said through clinched teeth.
Lis snorted, “Why? You didn’t! What makes her better than you? Does she have more training than you?”
Duncan looked at Natalie and was forced to admit, “I guess there’s a lot of anger over the two of you and she caught the blunt end of the stick.”
Lis smiled, “Well, I hope when emotions cool down you will correct this injustice.”
“Why are you no longer pretending?” Duncan asked with sarcasm in his voice.
“Pretending what, Major? I’m Lis and he’s Sig. I doubt you can prove anything different than that.”
“You’re thumbing your nose at us. There will be a price paid for that.”
Sig shook his head, “Not on board this ship, Major. Both of you were scanned to within an inch of your lives when you came on board. You don’t have any weapons, and do you honestly think you can take either of us on and survive the effort?”
Natalie suddenly looked very nervous. Duncan noticed it too and turned to them, “Why are you discussing this openly? You could remove us and any problems we could cause you would be over?”
Sig tilted his head and raised his shoulders, “My wife happens to like you.”
Duncan looked at Lis and she smiled, “So does Sig. You were only doing your job and you didn’t make it easy on us.”
“It was that fake sick routine at Disney that threw me off.”
“Major, that was not an act. The teacups worked me over and did me in.”
Duncan looked at him, “Seriously?”
“That ride came straight out of hell! You should take that ride and destroy it!”
Duncan stared at him and started chuckling. After a moment he managed to say, “I guess you can say the teacups did me in as well. It stopped me from suspecting you.”
Sig glanced at Lis and said, “Why don’t we take this to a more private location?”
Natalie nervously asked, “Where you can kill us?!”
Sig turned to her, “Natalie, you are safer with me than you could ever know. You, like
the Major, are a good person and I will not allow you to come to any harm if I can prevent it.”
Natalie stared at him, then lowering her eyes, she said, “It’s my understanding that assassins are cold-blooded killers.”
Sig smiled, “You can take the assassin out of a person, but you can’t take the person out of the assassin. Major, you’re pretty good at reading people; do you sense we wish to harm you?” Duncan stared at him and Sig added, “If we wanted to kill you, we could have done it in such a way that your death would never be traced back to us. Lis insisted that you didn’t deserve it and insisted we leave you alone. Nothing has changed that decision.”
“Where do you want to do this?”
“Your cabin or ours.” Sig asked.
“Let’s go to my cabin,” Duncan answered.
Lis looked at him, “You should realize that if any electronic devices are active in your cabin, I will disable them.”
Duncan stared at her and then smiled, “Then it looks like your cabin is where we’ll do this.”
Sig stood up, “You can follow us.”
“Why don’t you go ahead, and we’ll meet you there in a few minutes?” Duncan suggested.
“I suggest you might want to delay speaking to your superiors until after we talk,” Sig replied with a smirk.
“Why would I do that?”
“You might find things difficult if you report in that you’ve found us.”
“Why would that be an issue?”
Sig reached into his pocket and handed Duncan an Earth Military ID card. Duncan’s eyes widened, as Lis handed him her card. “If you want to know how we did that, I’d recommend you delay reporting in.”
Duncan looked at the pictures on the IDs and saw they looked nothing like Lis and Sig. He glanced at Natalie and turned back to Sig, “Does she need to be there?”
“She deserves to be there, Major. But if she can’t be trusted, you should come alone.”
Duncan looked back at Natalie and she quickly said, “Sir, I need to know.”
“Can you be trusted, Lieutenant?”
“Yes, Sir.” She looked at Sig, “I’ll only report what you authorize.”
Sig looked at Duncan, “She means it, Major.”
Natalie’s eyes flew wide open and Duncan turned to her, “We should go with them now.” Natalie stood up with him and they all left the cafeteria.
Lis said over her internal communicator, “What are you doing?”
“Are you out of the guild?” Sig asked.
“Are you?”
“I’ll let you decide for me. However, are you out?”
“Tal, you’re being ridiculous!”
“It’s a simple question. If I can get you back in the guild with your Number One ranking intact, would you still leave?”
“I’m weary of the killing, Tal.”
“That’s not an answer, Ka.”
She pressed the elevator button and continued to evade the question, “I’ll let you decide that for me.”
Duncan interrupted from behind them in the elevator, “I can see the two of you are communicating; how are you doing it?”
Sig turned around, “Hold that question.”
The elevator doors opened, and Sig led the way out. Lis was right behind him and Duncan pointed out, “You don’t appear to know what he’s doing.”
Lis turned to him, “I don’t.”
Sig opened the door to the cabin with a smile, “If you want to know, step inside.”
Duncan looked at Lis and she shrugged. She turned and entered the cabin. “Is this a good idea, Sir?” Natalie asked.
Duncan looked at Sig’s smile and turned to her, “You can back out now and I’ll do it alone.” Natalie looked at Sig and felt her anger well up again at being deceived. She stepped forward and entered the cabin. Duncan entered right behind her.
Sig followed them in and closed the door. He looked at Lis, “What does your hand tell you?”
Lis’s eyes narrowed and she raised her hand and moved it around the cabin. She pursed her lips and looked at Duncan, before going to the desk, bed, and bathroom. “That’s all of them.”
Duncan shook his head, “That’s amazing. You can’t blame me for trying.”
Lis rolled her eyes and sat down on the bed beside Sig, “What are you doing, Sig?”
“If war broke out between the colonies and Earth, who would you want to win?”
“Say what?”
“Come on, Lis. You’re avoiding answering any of the tough questions. Who would you want to win?”
Lis maintained eye contact with Sig and responded, “I wouldn’t want either side to lose.”
Sig smiled, “Good answer.”
“Major, same question.”
“Call me Duncan. I’d want Earth to win.”
“Why is her answer different from yours, Duncan?”
Duncan looked at Lis and then turned to Sig, “I have no idea.”
“We’ve spent most of the last month on Earth and got to know the people. We’ve discovered that the people on Earth are friendly, even to colonists, and were willing to help us whenever they could. We grew to like being on Earth and fell in love with the planet where our species began. We wouldn’t want Earth to be harmed if it could be avoided. Now, of the two of you, who could be trusted to be honest, Duncan? You or Lis?” Duncan looked Lis over but remained silent. Sig looked at Lis, “Who holds the military advantage?”
“I’d have to say the colonies, Sig.” Duncan snorted at her response.
Sig turned back to him, “Duncan, we know that your warships have stardrives and they’re far more powerful than any ship in the colonies’ fleet.” Duncan’s face showed his shock. “Lis is aware of that information; why would she say the colonies hold an advantage?” Duncan opened his mouth and Sig raised his hand stopping him from speaking. “The reason we are here, is to have a come to the pearly gates meeting.”
“What is that?” Natalie asked.
“It has been suggested that when we die, we will meet our maker at the pearly gates, where he will ask us what kind of life we lived. If you happen to lie, then eternal damnation awaits you.” Sig looked around the cabin and turned back to Duncan, as he explained, “Here’s how it works. You will ask a question and we will answer it truthfully. Then we’ll ask you a question and you will answer it honestly. The moment someone asks a question and the other side refuses to answer it, or tells a lie, then this meeting is over.” Duncan stared at Sig and saw him lower his eyes and looked at him through his eyebrows, “In case you didn’t know it, Lis is the Number One ranked assassin in the guild; she will know if you don’t tell the truth.”
Lis snorted, “What he’s not telling you is he is ranked number-two and he will see it as well.”
“How will we know if you’re lying?”
“Duncan, Duncan, don’t you trust your ability to determine that?” Duncan stared at Sig’s smile, as he said, “You get the first question.”
Duncan didn’t like this. He thought it over and warned, “You know anything I learn, I’ll be sharing with my commander?”
“That goes without saying, Duncan; however, we will not be sharing your answers with anyone.”
“Do you expect me to honestly believe that?”
“I honestly don’t care if you do. Ask your first question, Major.”
“Why were you sent to Earth?”
Lis saw Sig’s nod and replied, “We were sent to assassinate a scientist that was believed to be developing a stardrive.”
Sig quickly added, “We were unaware you already had the technology.” Sig leaned forward, “My turn. Why do you say that Earth won’t attack the colonies?”
“The colonies don’t represent a threat to Earth,” Duncan answered. Duncan leaned forward, “Why do you say that the colonies have the advantage militarily over Earth?”
Lis looked at Sig again as he nodded. She turned to Duncan, “The colonies have developed some rather nasty viruses that are capable of w
iping all human life from a planet.”
Duncan’s eyes flew wide open and he saw Sig nodding “It’s true, Duncan and they have some stealth vessels to deliver them.” Sig asked, “What was Dr. Meier working on in that lab?”
Lis snorted loudly, “That’s a wasted question, Sig.”
“Why do you say that?”
“They’re working on a force field that will operate inside a phase field.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Sig…I was being stupid.”
“Yes, you were and now we’ve wasted a question.”
Duncan listened to them and asked, “How do you know that?”
Sig laughed, “That’s your next question. Tell him, Lis.”
Lis looked at Sig, “Maybe we should call this off.”
“Lis, trust me on this. You need to tell him!”
Lis turned to Duncan and said, “We were in the lab and I saw the small force field model being tested on the other side of the room.”
Natalie and Duncan stared at Lis in silence. Sig quickly added, “My partner here is the colonies’ best electrical engineer.”
“I don’t know about that, Sig.”
“Of course, you are! Look at the communicators you developed and your magic right hand!” Sig glanced at Duncan, “I gave you that information free.”
Lis was troubled, and she looked at Duncan, “Why would you be working on a force field? You can already defeat the colonies’ fleet without it.”
Duncan stared at them and Sig could tell he was about to call it off. Before Duncan could respond, Sig quickly said, “Let me help you with this one, Duncan.” Duncan jerked his head around to Sig. “You said you don’t see the colonies as a threat. If you don’t see the colonies as a threat, then there’s something else that is threatening Earth. That threat is why the troops didn’t force their way on our ship to arrest us and why you’re hiding you have a stardrive. You will not allow your stardrive to be revealed under any circumstances.”
Lis’s eyes narrowed and Duncan shook his head, “You did tell me he was brilliant, Lis.”
Lis’s face showed her shock, “Is he right?!”
Duncan nodded, “Yes, he is. And that threat will attack the colonies before it attacks Earth.”