by Saxon Andrew
Sig forced his expression to neutral as he responded, “The aliens will take out the most dangerous adversary first and Earth doesn’t have a stardrive.” Duncan nodded slowly in agreement.
Chapter Thirteen
Lis turned to Sig, “ALIENS?! YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS?!”
“Did you know about the force field and said nothing?” Sig countered. Lis sputtered, and Sig said, “Excuse us for a moment.”
Duncan nodded and sat back, “Go ahead.”
Sig turned to Lis, “Do you remember all the displays on the wall in the lab? Lis nodded. “There was one display on the opposite wall from the others. On it was a blue colored ship in orbit above a planet.” Lis focused and then nodded. “When we made it back to Tampa, I did a search in my computer and asked it to find that planet.”
“What did you find out?”
“Lis, it’s Neptune. That ship is out in the far reaches of the Earth’s solar system orbiting Neptune. It isn’t a colony ship and Earth refuses to use their stardrive. I don’t know how they found it, but they discovered it and it has them worried.”
“Whose ship is it, Sig.”
“You should probably ask Duncan, but I believe that would be a wasted question. I don’t think they know.” Lis stared at him and Sig continued, “I think I can safely say, it’s not a human ship.”
Duncan spoke up, “It’s not. And it, or other ships like it, have been orbiting Neptune for more than forty-years.”
Lis’s expression turned neutral as she focused on the information she saw in the lab. “It’s some kind of scout,” she announced.
“I’ll save you a question and tell you that we only discovered it by accident. Earth launched thousands of probes to explore the planets long before the nuclear war. Our scientists accidently found a signal coming from Pluto and traced it to a probe that was launched centuries earlier. We received its electronic transmissions and managed to make contact and start it taking images of Pluto. Later, a scientist came up with the idea to see if it could view Neptune; it was close by at the time. We discovered that ship in orbit above it. We’ve witnessed that ship being replaced numerous times by other ships over the years.”
“Duncan, Neptune would have left Pluto far behind in its orbit.”
“We caused the probe fire its engines, which remarkably still worked, to leave Pluto and speed up to stay in view of Neptune,” Duncan replied.
Lis was shocked obviously struggling to process the information. Sig watched her and turned to Duncan, “You have one more question you want to ask.”
Duncan nodded and stared at Sig, “I don’t expect you to answer it.”
“Duncan, do you trust us?”
“I don’t think I can. Do you trust me?”
Sig looked at Lis, “Do you trust him?”
“Sig, the first-thing we’re taught is to trust no one!”
“Do you trust me?” Sig asked. Lis stared at him and then nodded. “You did not trust me initially, remember?” Lis sighed and nodded again. “You’ve had enough contact with Duncan to know if he’s trustworthy. Do…you…trust…him?”
Lis looked at Duncan, blew out a hard breath, turned to Sig and said, “I do.”
Sig smiled, “So, do I.” Sig turned to Duncan, “Ask your question.”
Duncan stared at them and asked, “You said you were in the lab. The photo images of the two in the lab look nothing close to your appearance. They were shorter, and their features aren’t remotely similar to yours. How did you pull that off?”
“Sig, you can’t answer!”
Sig turned and put his hands on Lis’s shoulders and brought his face close to hers, “Lis. Earth is working to develop defenses against that alien ship. You understand that, right?” Lis met his gaze and nodded. “What do you think would happen if the Colonies learned about that ship?”
Lis continued to stare into his eyes and replied, “They would send the fleet to investigate.”
“Which would cause the aliens to act and we know nothing about them,” Sig replied. “We are going to have to depend on Earth coming up with a way to take them on. Can’t you see that?” Lis lowered her head and nodded. “The only way to make sure that Earth isn’t stopped or delayed in developing those defenses, is to make sure the colonies don’t prevent them from working on it. They’re defending your daughter, Lis. What do you think now?” Lis raised her head and stared into Sig’s. She turned to Duncan and changed to her normal form. Sig smiled and did the same.
Duncan was shocked silent. Natalie’s eyes were wide open, but she managed to ask, “What did you do!?”
Sig chuckled at Duncan’s shock, “You have no idea of what a guild assassin can do.”
“I thought that the couple that died on the escape pod were the assassins,” Natalie exclaimed. Lis and Sig changed to Zak and Jil’s form. Duncan’s eyes widened, and Sig said, “I know you were told that another assassin was on board the ship to make sure Zak and Jil died. It was actually a couple and we removed them before they boarded the ship and took their identities.”
Duncan forced himself to think and finally managed to ask, “Are you saying you can be anyone?”
“We can copy anyone’s memories into our minds and mimic their appearance.” Lis suddenly changed her appearance to match Natalie. Natalie screamed, and Ka went back to Jil’s image.
Duncan put his hand on Natalie’s shoulder, “Calm down. If they wanted to harm us, they would have already done it.” He turned to Sig, “Why are you showing this to me?”
“Because you can trust no one that goes to Earth on a colony ship. If you weren’t prewarned about our coming, you would have never uncovered us. We made it into the most protected facility on the planet and could have wiped out everyone working there. You are going to have to track every tourist and not allow them out of your sight.”
“There are at least six-thousand tourists on every ship!!” Duncan responded.
“How many are in your armed forces. If you want to continue developing weapons, you’re going to have to do it! If the Council learns how far you’ve developed your weapons, they will take action to remove anyone working on them.”
“But…”
“Duncan, focus,” Sig interrupted, “I have a dart I can fire into you, or Dr. Meier when we were close to him, that you won’t feel and will cause a massive heart attack twelve-hours later. The assassins have tools like that and no one is safe from them. You will have to keep close tabs on every tourist or stop the cruises from coming to Earth all together; there’s no other way. Even then, I suspect a diplomat going to Earth to attend a conference could eliminate one of your diplomats and take their place. They can take the place of an officer working in the Orlando Complex and find out everything they need to know to initiate a war between the colonies and Earth. I suspect that is what that ship out there is waiting to happen.”
“How did you get the IDs?”
“I made them Duncan and I’m the only one in the colonies that can do it. Your ID structure is safe, for the moment.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Duncan, the guild is working hard to try and find a way to duplicate them. They haven’t managed to do it and it could be a while before they pull it off.”
Lis smiled, “I told you my husband was brilliant.”
“Is he being honest about this, Lis.”
Lis looked at Sig and said to Duncan, “He can be trusted, Duncan. Probably more than me.”
“How did you know we were warned about you.”
Sig shrugged, as Lis said, “You might as well show it all.”
“But no one else can do it.”
“It’s the only way to show him we’re telling the truth.”
“Show me what?” Duncan asked.
Sig turned to him, “I was in your cabin when your commander contacted you and told you the information he had received from your insider.”
Duncan’s head lowered, “You were not in my cabin!”
Suddenly, Li
s and Sig disappeared. Duncan fell back in the chair, “WHAT THE HELL!!”, as he heard, “You can’t always believe what you see.”
Natalie grabbed Duncan’s arm, as Lis and Sig reappeared. “You don’t need to worry about anyone else being able to be invisible; we’re the only ones that can do it.”
“Why have you shown me all this?!” Duncan asked forcefully.
Sig glanced at Duncan before turning to Lis, “We are coming back to Earth to help you against agents sent by the colonies.” He lowered his eyes at Lis and asked, “Right?”
Lis stared into his eyes and nodded, “I want my daughter to come with me.” She turned to Duncan, “Will that pose a problem?”
“Why don’t you just stay now?” Duncan suggested. “We can arrange having your daughter to travel on the next cruise.”
Sig jumped in, “Two reasons. First, I’m going to go back and destroy the viruses that have been developed by the colonies. Second, we need to transfer our bank accounts to Earth. We want to pay our own way.”
Duncan stared at Sig and started nodding as he thought about all he had just learned, “I trust you. How long do you want me to keep this information secret?”
“Until we arrive back on Earth.”
“I don’t know if that will work.”
“Why not?” Ka asked.
“If it were just your coming back, I could do it. But if you want to transfer your wealth, I’ll need our government’s assistance.”
“Couldn’t we just transfer it to a bank on Earth?” Lis suggested.
“No, Lis. That would cause too many questions. But if you place a rather large order from a business on Earth, it would not be noticed. The government could make that happen.”
“Better make it several businesses.” Sig suggested.
“Oh? How much will you be transferring?”
Sig looked at Lis, “A couple of billion credits?”
“Better make it four or five-billion,” Lis countered.
Duncan was stunned and then chuckled, “Being an assassin must pay well.”
Lis replied softly, “You have no idea!”
“You know if the Guild learns you didn’t die…”
“We’ll have to make sure they don’t, Duncan!” Sig interrupted. “The fact they DO think we died is what will allow us to pull this off.” Sig paused before asking, “When will you need to inform your superiors about us to make the transfers?”
“I can wait until the ship gets back to the colonies.”
Sig looked at Lis’s reaction and turned back to Duncan, “You better do it before then.”
“Why?”
“The first thing we’re going to do is transfer our accounts. Once that’s done, I’m going to remove the viruses.”
“How long will that take?”
Sig’s expression showed his concern, “At least a week.”
“This ship is going to be cleaned before it goes out again. It’s my understanding that it will depart ten-days after landing. Why don’t you book the cruise first and then go about your other plans? I’ll contact my Commander and set up the accounts on Earth you’ll need to use to transfer your accounts into.”
Lis thought about it and turned to Tal, “We’ll need to use our natural forms to do this. And you will have to book a room to yourself.”
Sig’s eyebrows came down and he gave her a side look, “Why is that?”
“Sig, my daughter will be traveling with me.” Sig stared at her with a neutral expression for a moment and then nodded.
Duncan turned to Natalie, “Can you keep this secret?”
“I will. I’ll resign from the military if you think I should.”
“You should!” Sig interrupted. Duncan and Natalie turned to him, “You know you hate the military, Natalie. I’m giving you five-million-credits and you can go and do all the things you’ve wanted.”
“I will not be bought!” she was obviously offended.
“Take the credits, Natalie!” Duncan insisted, “He’s not paying you for anything. He’s trying to spare you the harsh treatment you’ll receive from the officers who will blame you for not stopping them from escaping. Or don’t you trust him?”
Natalie turned to Sig and said with her hands on her hips, “I didn’t spend time with you expecting anything to come out of it.”
“That’s why I’m doing it. Now please do like the Major says.”
“You can’t resign until after you’re debriefed when we arrive back on Earth,” Duncan stated. “Once you weather that storm, you can resign.”
Natalie looked at Sig, “Thank you, I’ll do it.”
Sig stood up, “Is there anything else?”
“I don’t believe so,” Duncan answered.
“Then we should stay away from each other for the duration of the trip back,” Lis stated. Everyone turned to her. “The Captain was told two-assassins were on his ship and we don’t need him thinking it’s us, if you spend a lot of time around us it will look suspicious.”
Duncan nodded, “Good idea.” Sig opened the door and Duncan and Natalie exited into the corridor.
The moment they were out of the cabin, Sig turned to Lis, “You know Duncan knew you weren’t telling the truth?”
“Yes, but he saw Natalie was planning to get with you again. He respected my wishes on that.”
“Why would you want to prevent that?”
“I hate having to stay out of our room for hours at a time.” Tal nodded. Ka probably knew he recognized she wasn’t being honest, but he didn’t call her on it. “Sig, what are we going to do about the Guild Master wanting to meet with Sig and Lis; he believes they’re still alive.”
“You’re going to handle that issue.”
“And just how am I going to do that?”
“I can’t speak to the Guild Master because I didn’t transfer the assassin’s memories when I downloaded Sig’s mind. However, you did. After we depart the ship, you should contact the Guild Master and tell him that your partner has come to an untimely end.”
“Why would I do that?”
Sig continued, “You’re going to tell him that you had an argument with him about who would get the Number One ranking and he lost the argument. Suggest to the Guild Master that it’s one less witness to what happened.”
“Go on,” she replied. This plan had her interest.
“Now this is important. Tell him that you will take the former Number One’s rank but don’t want every petty assassin coming after you because they don’t fear you. Tell him most of any potential problems can be eliminated if he’ll allow you to mimic the former Number One and just take her place. All you need is for the Guild Master to send you an image of her that you can copy.”
“He said he wanted me removed; I’ve been in the position too long.”
“Ka, that’s not the real reason; he’s afraid of you. He won’t be afraid of this woman. Matter of fact, he’ll plan to send Lis on a contract where she’ll probably end up dead. He’s not dumb and will see this as a perfect solution.”
“Why don’t you do the same and take the man’s place.”
“Because the Guild Master agreed to make Sig the new Number One and you know he would never agree to giving that up. This way, he’ll jump on the idea and consider himself lucky.”
“Why?”
“Because he’ll keep half of the contract for himself.”
“I see you’ve thought this through.”
“I have and it’s the only way for us to get back without having a thousand-assassins out to kill us.”
“You know our partnership ends when we arrive at the colony?” Lis reminded him.
“Are you sure that’s what you want, Ka?”
“I am. I work alone.”
Sig stared at her and then lowered his head, “Ok, I’ll need you to do something before we arrive.”
“What is that?”
“Give Duncan one of the communication devices you gave me?”
“WHY?” she protested.
“Because he is going to have to set up the accounts on Earth to receive our wealth. Are you willing to go back and forth between the ship and your banks to make that happen? Besides, Earth will greatly appreciate that technology and welcome you with open arms.”
“Ok.”
“And one more thing.” Ka tilted her head, “You promised me the technology you use in your magic right-hand.”
Ka glared at him, then stood up, and went to her luggage. She pulled out a small pouch and took out a small glove. She handed it to him, “Put it on. It’ll stretch to fit your hand.”
“You had this the whole time we were here?”
“Tal, the technology wouldn’t work with two-people using it, they would interfere with each other. Now put it on and keep it on for an hour.”
Tal put the glove on his left-hand and Ka’s eyes narrowed, “I’m left handed.”
“I haven’t noticed that?”
Tal shrugged, “I’m almost ambidextrous.”
Ka picked up the desk communicator, punched in a number, and said, “I need you to come back for a moment.” She put the communicator down, “He’ll be right here.”
“Do you want me to leave, Ka.”
“No, that won’t be necessary. Besides, you have to keep the glove on.” Sig went into the bathroom and closed the door. He had failed to convince Ka to join with him. He gave it his best shot and there wasn’t much else he could have done. He had chosen her to be the one he would spend his life with…now he needed to put that dream aside and move on. He thought about all that had happened and dropped his head in disappointment, Ka was a remarkable person. He heard Duncan talking with Ka and then heard him over the communicator, “Can you hear me, Sig?”
“I can.”
“This is amazing technology.”
“I’m sure Lis is going to make a huge difference in your defense efforts. Let me know what you find out.”
“I will.”
Tal looked at his hand and the glove had disappeared. He held it up but saw in his mind a white field in the cabin. Ka was right, the gloves interfered with each other. He closed his fist forcefully, and the device in his hand shutdown. He thought about how he knew to do that and discovered that the glove had transferred instructions on how to operate it when it was absorbed by his hand. He took a deep breath, came out of the bathroom, and heard Ka say, “I’m sorry, Tal.”