Superego

by Frank J. Fleming

  I could just barely hear the female behind me reaching down to pick up a gun off of one of the dead guards. Then I heard two shots, followed by a body hitting the floor.

  “There, we just saved your life from a Nystrom assassin,” I said as Diane walked over to stand beside me. Her face wasn’t visible behind a black helmet, and she looked rather intimidating. There was also smoke coming from her armor where she’d obviously been hit, but I had to assume for now that she was okay.

  “She was an assassin?” Gredler asked, looking rather alarmed and confused as he only briefly took his eyes off my gun.

  “Despite whatever attempt at security Randatti has given you, Nystrom got an assassin in close to you to make sure you would die even if the primary assassins missed their mark.”

  “What primary assassins?” He had calmed a little and was giving me his full attention.

  “That would be me and my associate here.”

  He considered that. “But you’re not going to kill me, are you?” Part question, part statement. He was trying to take charge; politicians always like to think they’re in charge.

  I rested one hand on the computer on his desk, gun still pointed toward him but not directly at his head. “Tell your security to back off, and we’ll talk.”

  Gredler slowly walked to the intercom on his desk and said into it, “I want to cancel any alerts.”

  “No one is responding near you,” someone answered, sounding panicked.

  “That’s because your security failed to protect me.” Gredler looked at me. “Now I’m going to talk to someone more competent about keeping me safe.” He shut off the intercom. “I want you to know that I am a politician. My concern is government, and not whatever disagreements Randatti and Nystrom may have.”

  “And our concern is survival,” I said. “Now here are the facts: Nystrom wants you dead. They hired us for that, but they have many others and will make sure it happens one way or another.” I motioned to the dead female. “In fact, Agent Morrigan Dawson, who is in charge of much of the security effort for the conference, works for them. And if your people haven’t uncovered that, I’d say they’ve been kind of useless so far.”

  He was silent for a minute, wearing the expression of someone finally realizing how closely death had been circling him. “We’ll have to look into that…but this seems rather reckless for Nystrom. They’ll end up in an all-out war with the Alliance by going after me like this.”

  “Exactly. And they think they want that. They think they can win. I think they’ve gone insane. You’ve seen the pictures of Zaldia. Who even knows what they think they’re doing there? Now everyone wants Nystrom crushed, and for good reason. I can see that continuing to associate with them is only going to lead to one thing: making me dead. I don’t want to be dead.” I pointed to Diane. “Tommy here doesn’t want to be dead. You don’t want to be dead. I’m thinking we can all come to an agreement, then.”

  He nodded. Corridians nod yes. “Alright. So what are you proposing?” He was trying very hard not to look scared and only half-succeeding.

  “Nystrom knows deep down they’ve gone too far and are doomed, and that’s why they’re so dangerous right now. They will keep coming at you until someone crushes them. We have inside knowledge that’ll help you know how they’ll come after you. And how to respond to make sure they’re so wounded they’ll have no choice but to retreat. In exchange, we’d like some money—nothing unreasonable, but nothing small, either.” You always have to look concerned about money. “Also, when this is over, we want safe passage off this planet and the ability to disappear forever.”

  “Certainly. You help me out here, and you won’t have to worry about anything ever again.” He looked at the dead people around him. “I guess it’s fair to say Randatti wasn’t ready for the threat.”

  “I don’t think any of the syndicates are, and that’s why I felt the need to make an impression. You do not realize how single-minded Nystrom is right now. They only want you dead.”

  He thought for a moment. “I wish we could postpone the conference until Nystrom is handled, but that’s not an option.”

  “Nah, then they’d win. Because they’re not going to back down until you get everyone united against them.” I handed him a radio. “I will talk to you—and only you—through this. I’ll contact you soon and give you some of the information you’ll need for surviving the conference. And tell you where to send our payment. For now, we’re going to leave, because…” I looked around. “…I feel just a bit antsy standing around here for some reason. And one more thing.” I grabbed him and locked a metal bracelet onto his wrist. On it, a five-minute timer started counting down. “Try to tamper with this, and it will explode. Also, it’ll explode when the timer reaches zero. But as soon as we get out of here unmolested, I’ll send the signal to deactivate it.”

  His eyes were fixed on the timer. “This isn’t necessary!”

  “It’s not that we don’t trust you, but…you are a politician. Anyway, make sure your security stays out of our way.” I started to leave the room, but I noticed Diane stayed still, apparently staring at Gredler, her face unseen behind her helmet. It worried me for a moment, but then she turned and left with me. Apparently Gredler followed instructions, as on our way out we saw no Randatti thugs except for the deceased.

  We made our way out of the estate and disappeared through the tree line. After we hiked a minute into the forest, I had Dip connect me to the radio I’d given Gredler. “The bracelet is just a piece of metal and a timer; don’t worry about it. I’ll contact you again soon. Good luck.” I looked at Diane and the scorched gash in her armor. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine. It didn’t penetrate.” Diane pulled her helmet off. “I just wanted to bash Gredler’s face in—how he tried to keep this air of civility while working with such people.”

  “But you didn’t.” I checked my handheld to make sure we were going the right direction to the clearing we’d landed our vehicle in.

  She felt her gun and laughed. “Oh yes, I was the epitome of restraint in there. So you’re certain that Corridian woman I shot was a Nystrom assassin?”

  “Absolutely.” Ninety percent sure. “You’re okay with this, right?”

  “I…” She had a wry smile. “…just enjoyed it a little too much. You think it worked?”

  “Yeah. When you massacre a bunch of people in broad daylight, no one ever suspects that your purpose was to plant a bug. I can have Dip confirm it, though.”

  “I am monitoring his computer,” Dip informed me. “I can also pick up audio near his office.”

  “Dip says it’s working,” I told Diane. “In good time we’ll have what we need.” I stopped and looked briefly around the forest. We were surrounded by very tall trees—like sequoias from Earth. There was little movement besides ours—just insects and a few birds—and we seemed so alone. It was peaceful, and some small part of me just wanted to stay here with her and forget everything else. A very small, foolish part, but strangely nagging nonetheless.

  “What is it?” Diane touched my arm.

  A good question. I seemed to be having another irrational desire for…something I couldn’t quite understand. I looked at her, her lovely face full of concern. I caressed her cheek and kissed her. It had to be more obvious to her who I really was, yet she was still with me. Still, my best hope was we’d both die before she got too disappointed in what I am.

  After the kiss, she stared at me momentarily. “You’re an odd romantic.”

  “And you’re a beautiful woman in odd circumstances.”

  “I almost can’t believe we survived that.” She hugged my side and put her head on my shoulder. “Of course, survival has not been my problem. You think we’ll accomplish anything here?”

  “We’ll accomplish something.” A lot of bad people were going to wind up dead if our plan went off. That seemed like something regular people would celebrate.

  “I’m worried about my church…whether Nys
trom will go after them again to draw me out.”

  I was starting to learn what it felt like to worry about someone, and that wasn’t something I would want to extend to a whole group of people. I could only assume they didn’t reciprocate Diane’s concern, given the recent revelation about the killer in their midst. “Well, you can’t worry about them right now—there isn’t anything you can do for them, and worrying will only distract you from the mission. Even if Nystrom had you in hand, they might still go after them just to hurt you. Hopefully now that we’ve outed Morrigan to Gredler, Randatti will put too much pressure on her for her to worry about you. We just have to make sure we get the information we need and load up on whatever supplies we’ll need for the plan.”

  She took her head off my shoulder and looked at me more businesslike. “I was thinking about how we plan to breach the place.”

  “Well, I guess we’ll want a vehicle suitable for ramming…I don’t know if that will be easy to find quickly.”

  “The police station has them.”

  I really didn’t want to go back there again. I was tired of that place. “How easy would it be to steal one from there?”

  “Not too hard to get inside unnoticed if we pick the right time of day, but getting access…” She was silent for a moment in thought. “Actually, we just need an access card…one Chief Rudle would have on him.”

  “You want to go after Rudle?” Her face betrayed no emotion, but I reminded myself that she wasn’t like me. “You don’t want to make this personal.” That was only part of my concern, though, since Rudle seemed to know who I really was.

  She laughed. “It’s never not been personal. Anyway, he has what we need, let’s pay him a visit.”

  I nodded. We were going to have to kill him, of course. I assumed she knew that.

  CHAPTER 34

  “Hello?” He answered quickly—I could only assume he’d been waiting anxiously for the call.

  “It’s Rico. I think you remember me from earlier today with all the shooting and the screaming at your place.”

  “Yes, you’re the one with a handle on what Nystrom is up to.”

  “Correct. Are you alone?” I didn’t really care if he was.

  “Yes.”

  “I didn’t want to say this earlier in case others were listening, but you can’t really trust Randatti in this. Like me, you’re just a pawn to all the syndicates, and they don’t actually care whether we live or die, as long as they get what they want. To survive this, we need to look out for each other.”

  “What are you proposing?”

  “I know what’s going down here better than anyone. Nystrom is desperate, and they will be relentless and, despite my demonstration today, I still don’t believe Randatti quite understands the extent of Nystrom’s desire to kill you and forestall the changes in the Galactic Alliance. But I know what you need to do. For one thing, you need to alert all the other syndicates to just how dangerous Nystrom is. For now, anyone against Nystrom is your ally.”

  “I don’t deal directly with those people. I wouldn’t know how to contact them.”

  “But you know which Senators are in the pockets of which syndicates. Get word to them of Nystrom’s intentions. The other syndicates will get more of their people into the conference to ward off any move from Nystrom.”

  “A conference full of syndicate thugs doesn’t sound very safe.”

  “It’s your only move. Nystrom has to know it’d be suicidal to try anything. At this point, with all the heat on them from Zaldia, they barely care about an all-out war in front of the cameras. They might if we put enough syndicate people in the conference.”

  He paused. “Okay. I know who to contact. What else?”

  “What do you have in terms of personal security?”

  He was quiet again. Smart to be cautious with that question. “Randatti has afforded me quite a bit for this speech, and there are a number of high-tech measures installed in the conference hall.”

  “Yes, I’m sure they think they’ve got it covered, but do you have access to the security plans for the building?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Well, then, maybe you actually look at the plans and make sure everything is in place. Like I said, I wouldn’t trust them. And double-check air security and make sure you know the people in control of that. You don’t want Nystrom dropping an Armada on you.”

  “Okay, I’ll take a look. So…what are you expecting for helping me?”

  “I told you. Funds. I want enough money to completely disappear.”

  “I’ll need more information than you’ve given me for that.”

  “And you’ll get it. Look, I have resources. I’ll find out exactly how Nystrom plans to come at you—or whether getting enough of the other syndicates involved has successfully warded them off. I’ll want some money now—not much, just 100K—and you can consider that an investment in completely heading off the Nystrom threat. Not only am I talking about your surviving the conference, but I’ll tell your Randatti friends where to hit Nystrom to finish them off once and for all. I think that’s worth ten million easily. Which you will pay me when this is all over. And I know you will, because I’ve already well established that I can come and get you…especially when I have nothing to lose.”

  “No need for threats.” His timbre changed. He was scared of me. Everyone should be scared of me. “Again, I want to listen to you, but obviously Randatti is very unhappy about what you did today, and they aren’t sure about you.”

  “I’ll deliver, and then they’ll be happy. And you’ll actually live through this, so you’ll be happy. Randatti has already failed you. Not only did I bowl right through your security, but you had a Nystrom assassin standing right next to you in your very own office. I can keep you safe, and all it takes is a 100K investment.” I was pretty sure that was a tiny sum to him. It certainly was too little for me to care much about.

  “Okay, Rico. You could have killed me already, so I guess I can trust you.”

  I’m sure there was a logical fallacy there. “Excellent. I’ll have my assistant send you the account info. Take the advice I’ve given you, and stay safe.”

  I heard the tone that indicated Dip had ended the communication and settled into my nice, comfy chair. Chief Rudle had a posh apartment in a posh neighborhood—nicer than you’d expect for someone of his means. That meant top-of-the-line security, i.e., predictable security. Dip had told us what to expect, and in short order we were lounging on Rudle’s furniture, waiting for the guest of honor to arrive.

  Diane found a bottle of brown liquid. “It’s Corridian. It’s a lot like bourbon. You want some?”

  “I don’t drink.”

  Diane poured herself a large glass. “Neither do I. So we just wait and let ‘Dip’ do the work?”

  “We just wait. Gredler should access the security info we need soon, letting Dip know how to get us into the conference. Then we see what we have to work with.”

  “So any word in the news on our assault on Gredler’s home?”

  “Nope. Looks like they’re keeping it under wraps.”

  “It’s a syndicate matter.” She took a sip of her drink. “It’s not for normal people to worry about. Anything about Morrigan?”

  “From chatter at the police station, I gather she’s missing.” Maybe Randatti had killed her, but I didn’t think I’d be that lucky.

  “You bugged the police station?”

  I wasn’t sure how accusatory that was. “Yes.”

  She laughed and took a big drink. “Oh, you small-town cops.”

  The door opened, and Rudle crossed his threshold for the last time. I had assumed I would be the one to handle him physically, but Diane was quickly across the room, slamming her fist into Rudle’s face before he could tell what was going on. He fell to the floor, and Diane stepped on one of his hands and pulled his gun out from under his jacket, standing back up and pointing it at his head. “Hello, Rudle!” She was quite good; it looked like she had
beaten up a Corridian before.

  I made sure the apartment door was closed and locked. I then stood over Rudle and casually drew my gun. “You know what I said earlier about how you should hope I have more important things to do than kill you? Ends up I had some spare time.”

  “I didn’t want any part of this!” he cried.

  “Yeah, you’re just an innocent soul covering up Nystrom’s murders.” Diane motioned with her gun for him to move to the couch. “You’re practically a victim in all of this.”

  Rudle kept his hands up and sat down on the couch. “What am I supposed to do, murder a bunch of people and find God like you did? Is that how it works, you damn hypocrite?”

  I could tell this was not a conversation that would go anywhere useful. I wanted to just shoot him in the head and end it quickly, but I wasn’t sure how Diane would react to that. Rudle was a bad man and also in our way, so killing him seemed logical and simple. Diane apparently did not see things in such a calculating manner. I wondered if she had the capacity to execute an unarmed man; I was quite sure she used to.

  “Well, Rudle, do you feel remorse?” Diane asked, though it sounded more like an accusation.

  “I’ve been doing the best I can to keep the people of this city safe. I’m not some psychotic, hired killer in hiding.” Rudle then looked at me and back at Diane. “And you’re still paired with him? Don’t you know who he really is?” Once again, this conversation was about to take a useless turn. The just-blast-Rudle-and-get-this-over-with plan was gaining more support in my own mind.

  Diane glanced at me and my usual unconcerned expression and once again faced Rudle. “He’s someone who’s helping me take on the syndicates; that’s who he is.”

  Rudle laughed. “Taking on the syndicates? What the hell are you two little gnats going to do to them? I thought you worked for them. How can you still be this pathetically naïve?”

  He had a point.

  “So what’s your solution, then?” Diane demanded. “Happily assist these murderers?”

  “I keep the peace in this city!” Rudle yelled. “I don’t have the luxury to pretend the syndicates are people I can stand up against. If I’m to help anyone—”