"Got your knife?"
"Of course!"
"How about a radio link? Think it's safe enough?"
"I don't know on that one," I admitted. I wasn't as worried as Shotoon was, but I still liked to play it cautious myself. "What do you think Rieselle, would a radio link be too much of a chance?" She was the one monitoring the local channels, so she would probably have the best idea.
"I don't think it's a good idea," she frowned, "there isn't that much local radio traffic up here, anything that takes place is sure gonna stand out if somebody happens to be listening. If it's a trap," and she looked pointedly at Shotoon, "then somebody is sure as hell gonna be listening too!"
We looked at each other, Shotoon and I.
"Good point," he said quietly. "Look you two, I'm sorry if I'm being overly paranoid. I know that's usually Jotun's job," he gave a wry grin when he said that, "but I just can't shake it."
"That's okay," I replied. "Well, I'm off. Hold down the fort you two." I smiled and slipped away into the bushes.
I took my time as worked my way down the mountain side. It wasn't much of a mountain really, and we weren't up all that high, but why take chances? The forest was a nice old one, with little undergrowth for the most part. It had a nice rich smell, and I could pick up the scents of the local wild life fairly easy. It was perfect, just the kind of place I could really enjoy. I hadn't been in an Earth forest in over ten years, since I had been through my original training. Too bad I couldn't stay.
It was full dark by the time I got down to the grounds surrounding the house. I hadn't seen any security up till now, so I took my time searching the perimeter. I did turn up a security fence, of a fairly good design, and in good repair. Nothing I couldn't easily deal with though, so I quickly bypassed it and went on to the house.
The house itself had a much more sophisticated system then the grounds, but it was obviously more for burglary protection then for anything I would have to worry about. It still would make it a little more difficult getting inside though. I took my time and examined all the entrances. I then climbed up on the roof and carefully checked the second story as well. I was getting ready to go inside when I heard the sounds of a car approaching.
I jumped off the roof and hit the ground rolling to my feet, I ran to the perimeter fence and cleared that in a dive. Turning around I removed the jumpers I had set on the fence to cover my passing, and then found myself a good vantage point to see what was going on.
I listened as the car came down the driveway and pulled up in front of the house. I waited for the driver to shut the headlights off before I risked a peek. I could see two people getting out of the car, neither of them were my target however, that was fairly obvious. I watched as they went up and opened the house up, then they started carrying in all sorts of things, mostly paper sacks. It took me quite a while to figure out what they were doing until a stray breeze blew the answer my way. Food, they were bringing in groceries. Quite a bit too, apparently more people were coming from the amount they were bringing in.
They didn't talk too much however, just the usual mumblings of overworked servants everywhere. That they were Human made it much more likely that this was the place my target was coming to. He was a fairly powerful person, and on Earth that usually meant Human servants. Animen servants weren't too common, we weren't very well liked by the upper social classes on Earth. Actually I don't think the other classes cared much for us either.
Eventually the male came out and pulled the car around to the back and parked it in one of the out buildings on the far side of the property. I watched him go up into the house, then cautiously cased the grounds again. I stayed outside the fence this time however.
After watching them through the windows for a while, I satisfied myself that they were nothing more than they appeared to be and headed back to join the others.
"That was close!"
"Not really," I told Shotoon. "I heard them long before they got there. Also they're just the servants. Somebody is obviously on their way up soon!" I smiled nastily and they both laughed.
"So maybe my fears were unfounded then?" He sighed.
"I sure hope so! Pick anything up on the microphones?"
"Not much really, the place is totally blanketed, and I'm afraid to use the laser on the windows. This guy's supposed to be important, so I'm sure he's got detectors all over the place."
"I did see a few, but the place isn't all that secure. I don't think we'll have too much trouble getting this one done, this place looks like it was made with more worries about industrial espionage than with efforts such as ours."
I stretched my muscles a bit and gave a little yawn, "I'm gonna sack out a while, wake me if anything happens." Then I laid down on the ground and went to sleep.
The next two days were pretty uneventful, the two servants cleaned the place by the end of the first day, then spent the rest of that one and all of the next enjoying themselves romantically. I wonder if their boss knew what they did while he wasn't around? Probably not, but they obviously lived first class when he wasn't there. I was so impressed, that I resolved to do everything I could to avoid having to kill them too.
After all, we working stiffs have to stick together, right?
The next day security showed up, and I mean SECURITY. Ten armed guards, with a lot of equipment.
"You better start worrying again Shotoon," I groaned. "Because things just got harder!"
"What is all that doing down there?" He asked amazed as we watched them unload. "That's a lot more than a guy like this should have!" We looked at each other, the three of us.
"Well, back to planning I guess," Rieselle sighed.
"I guess," I said forlornly. I had begun to believe that this whole thing was going to be a cake walk. Not anymore.
My target showed up the next day, it wasn't hard to miss him. We easily pegged him through the binoc's and watched him meet the guards and walk around the grounds with them.
"Hold on a sec guy's," Rieselle suddenly whispered from over by the listening gear.
We got as silent as we could and waited until he had gone inside the house.
"Check this out!" She started, "They don't work for him!"
"What?" We both said surprised.
"That's right, they're on loan or something for the party he's having tonight. Something about an important guest."
"Who?" I asked.
"Didn't say, they also didn't say where they were from. I couldn't make out all of it, but they should be gone by morning."
"Fine," I said. "Let's lay real low then. Tomorrow's our due date, so we'll just wait for them to go away."
"What if they don't?"
"Let's not borrow trouble Shotoon," I replied. "But don't worry, I'll think of something if they don't."
So we laid low that night and watched the party from our vantage point. Quite a few people showed up, most of them appeared to be attached to one person or another. Probably part of somebody's entourage. It was fairly obvious that the people at the party below were all very important.
"How many do you make it?" Rieselle asked Shotoon when the cars finally stopped coming.
"I'd say there are about four big wheels with three or four hanger-on's each, another six minor wheels with one hanger-on each, and another three unescorted. Add in our boy, the staff, the servants and the guards, about fifty two."
"I make it to be about fifty three myself, did you count that driver in the limo out in the driveway?"
"Where? Oh I see him now. Okay then, fifty three it is! Want to take a look Jotun?"
"Naa, I honestly don't care that much. I'm just kind of surprised that none of them flew in, and that there isn't any press about. Recognize anybody?"
"Sorry, I don't keep track of who's who on Earth. How about you Hon?"
"Nope, but they sure do look important! I suspect that this is probably some kind of secret meeting, nothing really important as things go, after all we know about it! But I bet the general
public wasn't invited, hence the lack of media coverage." She turned and smiled at us. "Too bad we can't risk firing up the laser, I bet we'd be able to sell coverage of this party to all the local papers!"
We all chuckled a bit at that.
"Take a few pictures, just in case," I suggested. "Who knows, right?"
By two AM most of the guests had left. By noon the next day the only people left were my Target, the two servants, a group of three people, two of which were obviously staff to the other. And of course, the guards.
None of which showed any sign of leaving.
"Looks like this is going to be harder then I thought," I sighed as we sat waiting for the day to end.
"Sure does," Rieselle agreed. "What are you going to do if they're still here come nightfall?"
"Tough call, with ten of those guards down there, I'm sure not going in like I'd planned, that's for sure. I'll need a lot more equipment. It'll be tight with what we've got."
"Don't worry anymore Jotun," Shotoon interrupted. "They're leaving."
"What?" I got up and went over to the other scope, sure enough a bunch of them were packing up their gear and going.
"What's with the other bunch?"
"I'm not sure, but those six are definitely going. They took down all of the perimeter sensor stands, and the two auto-guns they had set up."
"Hmmm, just the expensive stuff, but they left the rest. I think I can handle that. That one last big wheel isn't budging though. If he doesn't get going soon he may find himself a footnote in history sooner then he would like."
By five I was heading down to do my job, Rieselle and Shotoon were packing gear and getting ready to leave fast. The four guards and the remaining guests were still there, but I couldn't afford to wait any longer. It took me a couple of hours to get where I was comfortable, the departed guards had left enough stuff around to make things tricky. The only bonus was that it was more gear than four people could really work, so most of it was on automatic. That made it fairly easy to fool them, or at least avoid them.
Once I made it to the fence I had to be a lot more careful, I was circling around to the back when suddenly the front door opened and out came my target with his guest and one of the guards. The other three guards were spread out on the grounds.
"Well Mr. Kanarr," the guest started. "My boys are in position, want to see what they got?"
"Sure Senator, sounds good to me!" My target replied, and took a sip of his drink. I didn't like the sound of that and I quickly readied my weapon.
The Senator turned to the guard next to him. "Give the word Bill."
I put my lips to the blowgun and just as I shot out my dart the hillside up by where our camp had been lit up with a fire fight. I saw the dart hit my Target, and him slap at it. Nobody heard it at all over the noise and he was too distracted himself to realize what had happened.
Then I realized what had happened, the camp!
"They're both dead Senator!" The guard reported, "Never had a chance according to Hastings."
A cold wind swept through my soul, both dead. I reloaded my blow gun, time for some collateral damage.
"Only two Bill? I thought our man said three?"
Just then my target started to stagger a bit.
"You okay Eric?" The Senator turned and I hit him in the back of the neck.
"Oww! What was that?" he slapped at the dart and it shattered under his hand. "I've been shot!" He exclaimed in shock.
I reloaded a third time, my last one, and just missed the guard as he dove to the ground, pulling the Senator with him. My target was in the process of noisily expiring by this time.
I turned and ran.
"Open fire, we're under attack! The Senator's been poisoned!" I heard the guard yell.
The forest behind me lit up with gun fire as they fanned the trees, I felt a burning sensation in my shoulder as I was hit, then another smaller one in my chest as I caught a ricochet or something from a tree in front of me. I didn't stop for an instant however, I just ran for all I was worth.
8
Eventually I had to stop of course, I was bleeding too much from the shoulder wound, and even a little bit from the chest. It took me about fifteen minutes to fashion a crude bandage on my shoulder. I couldn't move it too much, but I managed to stop the bleeding, so I wouldn't be leaving an obvious trail anymore.
The chest wound was easier to take care of. It was just a sliver of lead, the bullet must have shattered on impact with the tree. I could reach the wound with my tongue, so it was easy to clean it and stop the bleeding. Some of my ancestral holdovers did have their benefits.
Then I looked around, it was dark, probably about three in the morning. And I had no idea at all where I was. I took inventory as I started moving again; I couldn't hear anybody trailing me, yet, but that didn't mean they weren't back there somewhere. I had the Binoculars, some lock picks, a knife, a blowgun, fatigues and an equipment belt. None of it was metal, and the belt and fatigue shirt were now doing duty as a bandage.
My thoughts clouded briefly as I thought of Shotoon and Rieselle, so I forced my mind onto the more pressing need of my personal survival. The trees were too thick to see the stars, so I really couldn't be sure of which direction I should be heading in. But I knew where I shouldn't go, so I picked a new one and carefully started heading further away.
It was about an hour later when I started to hear sounds of my pursuers. I wasn't sure how far back they were, but as soon as I heard the baying of the bloodhounds, I knew I was in deep trouble. I picked up my pace again, the adrenaline helping to overcome the pain and weakness from my wound and loss of blood. What I needed was to find something to break the trail, the trees were out with my shoulder wound, so it would have to be water. I just hoped I'd find some soon.
I started running harder and harder as I heard them slowly catching up with me. They had to know I was hurt, so I was surprised that they were pushing so hard to catch up. I tripped and sprawled out onto the ground again, I had been getting clumsier by the minute, my endurance nearly gone. I got up and topped the rise I had been climbing, then started down the other side as fast as I could.
Suddenly the smell of water filled my nose as the breezes shifted for a moment. Water! That was why they were pressing, there must be a stream up ahead. River, I corrected as I suddenly distinguished the sound from the wind that was rustling the trees. I redoubled my efforts and speed, hoping to make it down before they caught up.
I quickly realized I should have been more careful, the loss of blood had not only weakened me, but had affected my night vision as well. Too late I realized I had gone over the side of a cliff and was falling.
I hoped that the water would be deep enough ....
I woke up, I had no idea where I was, but I was in trouble and hurt severely. I tried to stand but the pain in my leg and shoulder wouldn't let me. I was laying on dirt and rocks and I could hear the sounds of water and dogs barking. I remembered where I was.
I had missed the water by a good fifteen feet, my left leg was broken, my shoulder was bleeding again, and I don't know what else. I could see a large rock next to my head, I was lucky that I had missed that at least. I started dragging myself to the water, I could hear my pursuers almost at the top of the cliff. I was almost in the water when I heard one of the dogs go over the side with a loud yelp. It hit with a thud and a crunch, hopefully dead, as I made the shallows.
I made it into the current as they opened fire from the cliff top. I took a deep breath and going under I let the current carry me along. By the time the burning in my lungs was so bad that I had to surface, I had been carried around a bend and out of sight. It had been close, too close, and I wasn't safe yet. The river was cold, very cold. But I couldn't walk, so I'd have to stay in it as long as possible. My head felt light, and dizzy, the fall hadn't helped that at all. The only thing keeping me conscious was the pain of my leg every time it hit bottom. I felt things really couldn't get any worse.
Then I hit
the rapids.
As rapids go I bet they weren't bad ones. But that was little consolation in my condition, and the waterfall at the end didn't help either. At least it was only a couple of feet high, but the panic that preceded it was the worst of my entire life. By now it was light out, and the river had cut into a narrow gorge. The sides were steep and at least eighty feet, I managed to pull myself out with my one good arm and crawled up onto a rock. The sun was warmer than the water, but it was still early in the year. I did what I could to dry myself, then dragged myself into the dirt and the brush and tried to get warm.
I must have dozed off, because I awoke shivering and sneezing. I was stiff and sore, my leg was swollen from the knee to the ankle. My shoulder wouldn't move. I had at least five broken ribs, and every sneeze was more agony than I had ever known.
If they had found me then I would have begged them to shoot me, and been happy about it too.
Night was falling, I must have slept the whole day away. I surveyed my situation. In good shape I could have easily climbed out. In my present condition, not likely. My pursuers would have to know that too, so this was probably the safest place to try. So I did. I made it forty feet up by sunrise, forty feet of the worse agony I could imagine, falling once and wrenching my one good shoulder. On top of that it started to pour sometime during the night. I found a small overhang and packed myself under it as tight as I could.
By noon, I had tried twice to throw up everything in my stomach, which was nothing, and was burning up with a fever. The rain had only gotten heavier, and I started to think seriously about dying. But I wasn't sure that a forty foot fall would do the trick, even onto the sharp rocks below.
I was thinking about it seriously, trying to decide if maybe I should climb up a little higher first, just to be safe, when I saw a canoe coming down the river. I made myself as small and invisible as I could, without even thinking about it.
I could see three men in it. The first and third ones were more concerned with steering the boat. The second one was scanning everywhere with a scope of some kind, probably a thermal. They all had machine guns and grenades. Definitely loaded for bear, or in this case cat.
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