by Saxon Andrew
Ka held him tightly and he finally said, “That’s some daughter you have.”
“I know.”
“Does she always ask so many questions?”
Ka still held on to him and said ruefully, “You have no idea!”
Tal held her and said, “After being with her today, I believe I do.” Ka burst out laughing and Tal knew she was back. He walked her to her cabin and watched her go in. He stared at the door and thought, “Enough. That’s enough.” He walked back to his cabin and felt his sorrow lift. He needed this as much as she did.
Chapter Sixteen
“Tal.”
“Good morning, Duncan.”
“Bel tells me you spoke to her last night.”
“I did.”
“How did that go?”
“I should have done it sooner. I’m sorry I didn’t.”
“Are you, all right?”
“I have to say I am.”
“She didn’t tell me who you are. Is there any reason you shouldn’t tell me now?”
“Other than Natalie, no, there isn’t.”
“Tal, you should talk to Natalie. She deserves it.”
Tal thought about it and knew Duncan was right, “Will you call her to your cabin and I’ll meet her there.”
“I’ll call her after you get here.”
“On my way.” Tal took his elevator down to Duncan’s deck and walked to his cabin. He knocked, and Duncan opened the door, “WELL, I’LL BE A SUCKED DRY OYSTER SHELL!”
“Had you going, didn’t I?”
“Natalie told me I’d never find you; she was right. I’ll ask her to come down.”
“Thanks, Duncan.”
After a few minutes, Tal heard a knock and opened the door; Natalie’s eyes opened wide. “Natalie, it’s me.”
“Me, who?”
“Sig.” Tal stepped aside, “Come in and let’s talk.” Natalie walked in and sat down on the bed. “I’m sorry for avoiding you.”
“You don’t have to apologize, Sig.”
“My real name is Tal.”
“I know that from the last meeting, but you’ll always be Sig to me.” Tal stared at her and she held up her hand, “You don’t need to apologize. I got so much more from spending time with you than you’ll ever know.” Tal sat down beside her on the bed. Natalie looked into his eyes and smiled, “The first time I was with you, you listened to me spill my guts to you and heard me with an open heart. I told you how much I hated my life and you listened without passing judgement. I managed to tell you things I never even admitted to myself.’ She paused and smiled, “I needed to get those things out in order to move on. I won’t be accepting your money.”
“WHY NOT!”
“Because I’ve found something I love doing.” She stood up and he saw her excitement, “Being on this ship and intermingling with the passengers and crew has brought me extreme satisfaction. I love doing this, Sig. And you know that if I accepted your gift, it would cause suspicion that you bought me off to be silent.” Tal thought about what she was telling him, as Natalie continued, “I know that you need more than I can offer…”
“It’s not that!” Tal interrupted.
“Yes, it is!! Don’t lie to spare my feelings. I couldn’t challenge you mentally and, after time passed, it would become a barrier between us. I love you for what you did for me. But you and I aren’t meant to be.”
“I’m so sorry, Natalie. I never intended to hurt you,” he said softly.
“You didn’t. I went in with my eyes wide open and I’m better for it. Thank you.” She went to Tal as he stood up with her. She leaned in and kissed him before she left the cabin. Tal thought about it and wondered if this was also the case between him and Ka. He thought about if for a long time and realized, it probably was. Ka was constantly testing him when they were together on Earth, and he saw that she felt inferior to him. That didn’t help him win her over. The last test where he figured out that Earth had a stardrive probably sealed the deal. He took a deep breath and blew it out very slowly. It was clear that he and Ka was over. He had held on to secret wishes that they would end up together, but it wasn’t going to happen. He had to move on and give his heart time to heal.
• • •
The flight to Earth finally ended and Duncan arranged for their transportation. Tal came down the boarding ramp with Ka and Sha immediately behind him. An unmarked hauler pulled up and Duncan announced with a chuckle over the subvocal communicator, “That is your transportation to a special meeting.”
“Aren’t you going with us, Duncan?” Ka asked.
“No. Natalie and I are going to face an Intelligence Inquiry and I suspect what we tell them will be matched up with what you say in your meeting.”
“I’d feel a lot better if you were going with us.” Ka pressed.
“Lis, just tell the truth. You’ll be fine,” Duncan reassured them.
Tal said, “Let’s go.” They headed toward the transport and Tal said sub-vocally to Sha, “Now is not a good time to be asking questions.”
“I know that. I’ll behave.”
Tal really hoped she would. The driver was in civilian clothes and he put their luggage into the back of the hauler. He opened the door and Tal sat in the front. As the drove to the Orlando Complex, the driver glanced at Tal and asked, “Is there anything I should know before we go on base?”
“The leather bag you put in the back?”
“What about it?”
“It could get you killed. Be very careful with it.”
“I’ll heed your advice and let the others know.”
“That would be good.”
The driver drove up to the front gate and was waved through. They stopped in front of a different building than the lab where a Major stepped forward and opened their doors, “Please follow me.” He walked up the steps and the three-guards fell in behind them with their weapons raised. They took a large elevator to the top floor and the Major stopped outside a large door. “Only the two of you are allowed inside.”
Ka looked at the Major, “Wherever I go, my daughter goes with me.”
“I’m sorry, but that won’t be allowed.”
“Then we’re not going in,” Ka replied sternly.
The Major’s eyes narrowed, and he looked at Tal, who was standing there with his arms crossed and a small smile on his face. The Major knew they were highly-trained assassins and he suddenly realized he had not brought enough guards. He saw that making this an issue would be a mistake. “Please give me a moment.”
He walked through the door and the guards were extremely nervous. They recognized the deadliness of the man in front of them. Tal looked at them and said, “Nice weather, isn’t it?”
One of the guards replied, “It’s a little hot for my liking.”
Tal nodded, “Well, it’s cool in here. Let’s try to keep it that way.”
The Major came out of the door followed by Dr. Meier. He looked at them and said, “You aren’t the two who came to my lab.”
Ka glanced at Tal and they changed to their normal forms. Dr. Meier didn’t even flinch. He smiled and said, “It appears Major Montana was right. Please, the three-of-you follow me.” The Major stared walking forward with them and Dr. Meier turned back to him and ordered, “Go away, Major.”
“But, Sir. These are…”
Dr. Meier interrupted him, “I told you to go away!” He turned and walked through the door, with Tal, Ka, and Sha following him.
They walked through a huge office and everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at them. Dr. Meier led them through a set of double doors and walked toward the front of a large room. He stopped and motioned toward some chairs in front of a large, raised, dais. He continued up the steps to the dais and took a chair in the center. Tal took a seat and nodded to Ka and Sha. They sat down and looked up at the five-men and two-women staring at them. Their expressions didn’t look good. Tal stretched his legs out and leaned back in his chair. Ka was fighting to keep
her expression neutral and his relaxed posture gave her strength and focus. She smiled slightly and leaned back.
The man sitting next to Dr. Meier leaned forward, “I am Chancellor Evans.”
Tal spoke first, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Chancellor. My name is Tal, and this is Ka and her daughter, Sha.” The Chancellor was taken aback by his relaxed attitude. The idea that they would be intimidated by the Chancellor’s presence went away like light at sundown.
Dr. Meier spoke up in the ensuing silence, “I understand that you have decided to come to Earth to assist us against the aliens.”
Ka answered first, “We have.”
Dr. Meier smiled, “Why?”
Tal pulled his feet in and leaned forward, “I’m somewhat surprised that you thought we could be fooled by this…” Tal looked around, “…gathering.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“That is not the Chancellor. And the ones sitting at the table with you are holding weapons under the desk pointed at us.”
Meier actually smiled, “You’re able to see that?”
“No, it’s the only thing that makes sense in this situation.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know that we are highly-trained and ranked number one and two-assassins in the Assassin’s Guild. Do you honestly want us to believe you brought us here to be questioned without having some safeguards in place? The Chancellor would never be allowed to be in this dangerous situation. I have to say I’m surprised that you’re present, Doctor.”
“It was the only way to make it appear believable. I insisted on being here. Is it true?”
“Is what true?” Ka asked.
“Are you really assassins?”
“I am, or was, the Number One ranked assassin in the guild. Tal was ranked Number Two,” Ka replied.
“What do you mean by ‘was’?”
“The guild thinks we’re dead.” she answered.
Meier looked at Tal, “Could you have killed me when you came to my lab?”
“I fully intended to do so, Doctor, but Ka stopped me.”
Meier looked at Ka, “Why did you do that?”
“We went to kill you to prevent Earth from developing a stardrive that would allow Earth to attack the colonies. I saw that you already had a stardrive and it made no sense to harm you.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t my dashing good looks and personality that stopped you?”
Ka smiled, “Yes, I’m sure.”
Meier looked over their heads, “Do any of you have any questions?”
Tal turned around and saw five-people sitting, above and behind them, behind a clear glass wall. The man in the center asked, “I’m having difficulty believing you want to help us. Why are you doing it.”
Tal smiled, “How many reasons do you need?”
The man smiled, “Give me four.”
“Let’s see if I can give you five. First, Earth does not represent a danger to the colonies as long as that alien ship is at Neptune.”
“Why not,” the man asked?
Because you’ve gone to great effort to hide that you that have a stardrive. If the aliens attack, they’ll go after the largest threat first, which would be the colonies. If you use a stardrive to attack the colonies, you would be their first target. They’d easily see that your warships are more powerful.”
The man bowed his head in acknowledgement, “Go on.”
“The second reason is that it is in the best interests of mankind that you develop the tools and weapons to possibly stop them if they do attack.”
“So, you place the interests of mankind ahead of your loyalty to the colonies?” another man sitting behind the glass inquired.”
“If you really think about that question you would see that either answer would work. If I were completely loyal to the colonies, I would still want you to succeed in eliminating the aliens. But to be sure, I do put the welfare of our species ahead of all of us.”
Both men acknowledged his reasoning with nods. Tal smiled, “The third-reason we came here is that we know for certain that if the colonies knew about those aliens, they would rush out and poke them with a stick. After all, they’re here in Earth’s Solar System; they wouldn’t be as worried if the aliens were in the colonies. That could be a huge mistake and so the colonies must be kept in the dark about them. With that in mind, the colonies are afraid of Earth developing a stardrive and they could make a nuisance of themselves by sending assassins to infiltrate your military and cause severe problems if they learned the truth about your military superiority. We can help prevent them from doing that.”
Tal paused and waited for another question. When none were forthcoming, he continued, “The fourth-reason is that Ka is one of the best electronic engineers in the colonies. She can make a huge difference in helping you develop your weapons.”
“Why would you do that?” the first man asked.
Ka looked at him and nodded toward Sha, “I have a daughter and I want to see her have a long and healthy life. Those aliens present a real danger to that not happening.”
The first man turned back to Tal, “You told me you would give me five-reasons.”
“I’ll go you one more, I’ll give you six. If we are as self-centered as you believe us to be, where would we be safer if the aliens attacked, the colonies or on Earth.”
The man stared at Tal and turned his head slightly, “What’s number-six?”
“When we were here before, we traveled around Central Florida and got to know the people and the places where they live. We fell in love with the beaches, cities, people…I guess you could say the whole planet. Earth has a way of getting to you I never anticipated. Even if there were no aliens, I’d want to live here.”
The man looked the three-of-them over, for a minute and finally asked, “If you were in my place, would you trust you?”
“Probably not, Chancellor.” Tal noticed the man was obviously startled by his response. “There’s so much distrust between Earth and the colonies that it would be impossible to put it aside.”
“So, you’re telling me there’s no way for us to trust anyone from the colonies?”
“No, I’m telling you something I told someone else recently. It’s not a question of trusting anyone from the colonies. It’s whether or not you can trust us.”
“Dr. Meier, what do you think about this.” The Chancellor asked.
Dr. Meier raised his eyes from Tal to the Chancellor, “Chancellor, he could have killed me, but he didn’t. They could have done massive damage to my lab, and they didn’t. They could have slipped away to the colonies, but they didn’t. They transferred all their wealth here with no assurances that we wouldn’t confiscate it. I trust their motives. They’ve demonstrated that they’re being honest and, quite frankly, I can use her help in the lab.”
“I understand that Major Montana says you can be invisible. Is that true?” The Chancellor asked. Ka and Tal immediately disappeared, and this time Dr. Meier did flinch. They immediately reappeared, and the Chancellor asked his last question, “If you really want to do it, could you kill everyone in this meeting?” Tal looked directly at him and nodded. The Chancellor smiled, “I want to welcome you and your family to Earth.”
“Sir, Ka and I aren’t married,” Tal replied.
Dr. Meier immediately blurted out, “You’re not!!”
Tal looked at him staring at Ka, “No, we’re not,” he confirmed.
Ka saw the Doctor staring at her and smiled. Tal saw it and forced himself to ignore it. The Chancellor smiled, “Well, all of you are welcome to Earth. We can use your help.” The Chancellor turned to the woman on his left, “Please escort our new citizens to their quarters and familiarize them on how they function.” He turned and looked at a man sitting at the podium, “General Lein, provide them with the proper security documents and instruct them on how to get inside our facilities.”
The General smiled, “I’ll just give them the ID cards Mr. Tal created.�
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“You have no need to worry about the colonies duplicating what I did. I’m the only one that can do it.” Tal said sheepishly.
General Lein smiled, “If you can do it, it’s only a matter of time until someone else can. We know that this is a temporary solution to maintaining our security.”
Ka smiled slightly, “I’ll build a computer network that will track every scanner used to check your IDs and a database that includes everyone you’ve assigned an ID. I’ll embed a chip that only the scanners can detect so any duplications won’t pass inspection.”
The room was silent, and Dr. Meier finally broke it by asking, “Can you do that?”
Ka turned to him, “That and a lot more, Doctor. The computers you’re using in the lab are pitiful.”
Christoph Meier smiled from ear-to-ear and said, “I’m really looking forward to you working with us.”
Tal sighed slightly and turned, “I will require a new ID, General Lein.”
The General turned back to him, “Why is that?”
“The ID’s I created show Ka and I as being married with the same last name, we’ll need to correct that.” Ka looked over at him, and though she tried to tightly control her expression, both Tal and Sha saw her sadness. She knew this was the final act of dissolving their partnership.
General Lein shrugged, “What name do you prefer to use?”
“My parents kept a history of my family from the time their ancestors left Earth for Americas. The last name of my ancestors was Talent. My parents named me Tal, which is a shortened form of Talent. The first male ancestor’s name was Adam.”
“So, you want to use the name Adam Talent?”
“Yes. I think my parents would be proud of that name.”
General Lein could tell something was going on but had no clue exactly what it was. The man’s eyes showed sorrow, but he wasn’t going to violate his privacy to ask what it was. He turned to the man beside him and ordered, “Produce him a card to replace the one he made.”
“I’ll have it here tomorrow, Sir.”
Tal nodded and continued, “Sir, I understand that you intend to use me to see if there are any infiltrators in the military.”