She sent me a dataspike message while Vincenzo Veraldi shook Li Fei’s hand.
Maintain NOC, Tycho.
Andrea was reminding me to focus on my non-official cover. I was a little insulted, but the fact was I needed to hear it. I’d already convinced myself the Senior Arbiter already knew exactly who I was and was only biding his time. Of course, there was nothing he could do legally. Section 9 had erased all charges against me before I even joined the unit, but he might have some extrajudicial idea in mind.
“This is agent Robin Sendrig.” Andrea indicated Raven Sommer, who reached forward to shake the Arbiter’s hand. I realized that there had to have been coordination between Section 3 and Section 9 at the highest levels, otherwise we could never get away with using them for cover like this. If anyone ever decided to follow up on this mission, the Section 3 databases would still have to include a Robin Sendrig, along with the rest of us.
“This is Alex Jax.” Andrew Jones, of course. I wondered why I was the only person whose code name didn’t have the same initials as his real name.
“Nice to meet you.” Andrew’s voice was smooth, but it had the same hint of mockery it always did. “I’ve always had the highest respect for members of the Arbiter Force.”
“Oh? And why is that?” asked Li Fei.
“The quality of your training,” was Andrew’s reply. When I’d first met him, virtually all of his comments had been aimed at the inferior quality of Arbiter training. It was all I could do not to punch him out back then. His personality was just that obnoxious. Ever since, I’d gone back and forth on how I felt about the guy.
“Thank you, I do appreciate that,” Li replied.
“This is Ted Yoxley,” Andrea said. Thomas Young looked up with a startled expression, as if it surprised him to hear that name spoken aloud. I actually saw him mouth the word who, but he had recovered by the time Li Fei stuck his hand out for a shake. He muttered something no one could hear, then sat back in his chair.
“And this one is Angus Contralvo.” She pointed a thumb in my direction, and Li Fei turned his attention to me.
“Angus Contralvo?” he asked, giving me a funny look. I couldn’t say what it was for sure, but I interpreted it as skepticism. It was hard to say, though, because he was grinning.
“Nice to meet you.” I reached out a hand for him to shake, and he paused for a long and awkward moment before taking it. Mike Mitchell noticed the awkward interaction and stared up at the Senior Arbiter in a way that suggested the two of them were communicating via dataspike.
Then Li Fei finally said something. “Nice to meet you too, I’m sure, Contralvo.”
Did he know? I had no way to be sure, but if I had to guess in that moment I would say so. I started to wonder how much of a rogue Li Fei really was. If I moved ahead of him on this mission, was I risking getting shot in the back?
The Commander returned from the bridge. “Command has cleared the mission; we’ve got the green light. Let’s finish this briefing, and then we’ll make our approach to Llyr station.”
“Sounds good to me.” Andrea smiled at the Commander, but it was a smile without any friendliness in it.
“This is a map of Llyr station,” the Commander announced, and the map changed on the briefing screen. “It’s a typical centrifugal gravity station. Approximately two kilometers in diameter. Ships normally match rotational speed on the empty central axis of the station then descend to their cleared dock. You’ll be doing something similar in your drop suits. You’ll jump into vacuum after our ship matches relative rotation, and then you’ll essentially fall onto the dock. Any questions?”
“Yeah—you mean we’re using Arbiter drop suits?” asked Andrew Jones. He seemed nervous at the prospect. Section 9 rarely had a need to operate in vacuum.
“That’s standard on these missions,” the Commander replied. “I assume your people have all been trained in how to use them?”
Andrea looked a little nervous too. “Yes, but for some of us it’s been a long time since we received that training. A crash course would be helpful if we have time.”
“I’m sure some of you remember perfectly well how to use a drop suit,” said Li Fei smoothly, looking directly at me as he said it.
“No doubt,” was Andrea’s reply. “All the same, a crash course would be helpful before going into a hot site.”
“Li will be more than happy to accommodate.” The Commander marked the map on the screen. “This is the dock you’ll use. It’s not the one the Havisham is docked at, but it is the one that gives you a direct path to the station’s bridge. With Llyr Station’s reputation, it’s best to establish secure control of the entire facility.”
“Won’t that give the Havisham time to escape?”
He shook his head. “We’ll be waiting for them. This ship only looks like a merchant freighter. If they try to run for it, we’ll be right on top of them.”
I had my doubts about the ability of any Arbiter drop ship to catch a rich criminal’s private yacht. The Havisham probably had racing thrusters and at least some firepower. Still, it was probably the best we could do under the circumstances.
The Commander went on to give us a rundown of how we were going to take the station quickly enough to then seize control over the ship before it could make a run for it. Once he had finished explaining the plan, he turned to Li Fei. “Li, could you give them all a refresher in how to use the drop suits?”
“Yes, sir. Follow me, everyone.”
Just as I had done when I first got on the drop ship, I tried to fade back into the group as we followed Li to the armory. It wasn’t as effective as I’d hoped, because he kept seeking me out. He’d look right at me while making some comment to the whole group, even if he had to turn all the way around to do it. He even addressed me specifically.
“Contralvo, I think you’ll like these,” he said, pointing at their new drop suits. “Big improvements over the old models.” They did look sleek and lithe compared to the model I’d used when I jumped onto Venus.
I didn’t know how to respond, though, because it wasn’t like I could admit that. “They look expensive,” was all I managed, which earned me a look from Veraldi. I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to say, though. Yes, those look far more comfortable than the familiar model I used to wear before I killed an Arbiter, had my charges erased mysteriously, then disappeared.
“Expensive?” Li Fei grimaced. “I suppose they are, but I was talking more about the practical features. That’s what Arbiters tend to focus on, I guess. Have a look at the water storage setup. Damn efficient, and it weighs less than on the old model, with the weight distributed over the whole suit instead of across the back.”
He went on for a good twenty minutes, showing us all the features while explaining how they worked. The whole time he was rambling, he kept talking to me like I was obviously familiar with the traditional model and would appreciate the new features more than anyone else. It was making Andrea nervous, although she was doing a good job of not showing it. The only reason I knew was her constant dataspike messages.
Don’t let him get to you. And don’t get your suit on too easily.
Wouldn’t it be just as obvious if I struggled with it?
Walk the line.
A series of tones sounded from overhead followed by a synthesized voice. “Entering mission dropzone in ten minutes.” It was the single most welcome thing I’d heard all day. We were finally going into action, and soon it wouldn’t matter what this Arbiter suspected.
As I was stepping into my drop suit, Mike Mitchell leaned in and spoke quietly into my ear. “We know who you are. Don’t think for one second that you’re getting away with this.”
“What?” I asked him, sounding genuinely confused. “What are you talking about?”
He clapped me on the back and laughed. “That’s just an old game of ours. We do that to one guy no matter who we’re working with. Right, Li?”
Li’s face was expressionless. “Right.�
�
“So, how do you pick the guy?” asked Jones.
“We go for the one who looks the most nervous.” Mike grinned. “There’s always one.”
“You hear that, Angus?” asked Andrea coolly. “You look jumpy.”
“I can’t imagine why.” Li Fei’s voice was just as cool. “He put that suit on with no problem.”
These two had managed to distract me enough that I had slipped into my drop suit without a second thought. I silently cursed myself. The only thing left to attach was the ponderous helmet. So much for the plan to look incompetent with the suit.
“Are we ready for this drop?” Andrea’s voice was cordial but carried a tinge of impatience.
Li Fei’s tone matched hers. “As ready as we’ll ever be.”
The voice over the intercom spoke again. “Entering mission dropzone in three minutes. Proceed to airlock.”
Andrea messaged me. Once we’re in combat, none of this will matter.
You sure about that?
She didn’t answer me.
7
Jumping out of the Arbiter ship, I had the strangest sensation of living two different lives at the same time. Falling through space toward the ring of Llyr station, staring down at the scarred surface of Europa as gargantuan Jupiter climbed over the curve of the moon’s horizon, I was between the past and present. In my old life, I was jumping in the company of Gabriel Anderson, who was laughing and joking with me as we fell. In my new life, the one I could hardly believe was real, I was jumping in the company of spies, assassins, and two Arbiters who knew I was a liar.
How had they figured out who I was so quickly? Li Fei and I had never actually met, but he must have learned about me. Had he met Byron Harewood, my Senior Arbiter after Gabriel died? Byron was a corrupt Arbiter, a man who helped frame me for the murder of Sophie Anderson and then tried to hunt me down for it. Had he taken it on himself to spread the information?
I didn’t think Mike Mitchell had recognized me right away, probably because he had joined the Force after I’d gone. But Li Fei must have, and told Mike all about me with a subvocalized dataspike message while we were still in that meeting.
In the end, it didn’t really matter whether Li was corrupt like Byron or just hated me for what I’d done. If they got the chance on Llyr Station, there was every possibility one of these two would shoot me in the back. No one would even know they’d killed Tycho Barrett. The record would only show that Section 3 agent Angus Contralvo had died serving a high-risk warrant in Europa’s orbit.
In retrospect, it wasn’t the best frame of mind for a person about to enter hot territory against an unknown enemy. I was going to have to watch the space in front of me, the space behind me, and everything in between.
I craned my neck to get a look at the landing zone. It was still to our backs as we fell head-first from the central axis of the station, but Llyr’s rotation would bring it under us once we landed. One of the most difficult concepts to adapt to in space is inertia, but it rules over everything. If we’d jumped with the landing zone directly beneath us, it would have been on the opposite side of the ring by the time we’d covered the distance. A straight line relative to the surface of the station is a spiral relative to everything else. Docking ships can follow that spiraling path with constant thrust, but that’s something a human-sized drop suit doesn’t have the fuel to do.
What a human-sized drop suit has to do instead is rely on timed bursts from stability thrusters to negate the force of contact as the metal surface of the station streaks by at a hundred meters per second.
The one positive for me about this mission was the familiar sense of security the suit provided. The only thing I felt as the thrusters spun me around seconds before impact was a vague sense of acceleration. I landed on my feet and immediately readied my weapon. The dock was clear, but that didn’t mean it would stay that way.
Everyone landed within seconds of each other and formed up around Andrea and Li. “We’re going in first,” Li announced. “You’ll come in behind us. We’re going to need to move fast.”
The Arbiters broadcast the signal announcing their warrant, and whoever was in charge inside the station was smart enough to open the airlock without giving us an argument about it. We filed in one by one. Vincenzo, Raven, and Jones took up positions around the airlock door to secure the dock and cover the exit. Young, Capanelli, and I followed the two Arbiters inside the station.
As we came out through the other side of the airlock, I saw people scattering. They didn’t know why we were there, but they knew they didn’t want to be anywhere near an Arbiter raid. Llyr Station might have been somewhat disreputable, but it was an elegant way to have a bad reputation. The place was built like a private resort. I saw a man holding a cocktail duck behind a fountain, and a woman wearing a brightly colored silk dress step behind what looked like a real marble column. The shops we passed sold high-end jewelry, designer clothing, and cutting-edge tech. The restaurants were quiet, dimly lit, and expensive looking.
Li Fei and Mike Mitchell headed straight for the bridge, and the rest of us fanned out to secure the approach. Everyone who saw us either turned and ran off immediately or just sat there as if paralyzed, staring at us like it was the strangest and most frightening thing they’d ever seen.
It was almost always like that during an Arbiter raid, and I had forgotten how powerful it could make you feel. Compared to the secretive life of a Section 9 agent, the difference was black and white. When we were on Mars, no one had acted particularly awe-inspired by our presence. In fact, almost everyone we met had tried to kill us. That’s not what an Arbiter’s job is usually like, Tower 7 notwithstanding. In the vast majority of Arbiter raids, people comply and do whatever you need them to do.
“Sol Federation Arbiter Force, acting on a judicial warrant!” announced Li Fei as we reached the bridge. “You are instructed to block all departures from this facility. Deactivate security and do not attempt to resist.”
His voice was deep and devoid of emotion. The people on the bridge reacted with quiet panic. They just sat there stupidly, staring at us like they couldn’t even figure out what we were doing on their station. The circle of open mouths and staring eyes was almost comical.
A middle-aged woman finally stood up. Her face was hard, but her voice had at least a veneer of culture to it. “I’m Denise Vassar, the captain of this station. May I see your warrant, please?”
I scanned the approach to the bridge while Li sent the warrant to her dataspike. No one was trying to stop us, and the Havisham was still berthed.
Everyone stay alert, warned Andrea.
“John, shut the docks down please,” said Vassar.
John looked at her like he didn’t understand what she was saying to him. She raised her voice as she repeated herself. “Shut it down.”
He made a face that read to me as confusion and resignation, then turned and started doing something rapidly on his instrument panel.
“Instruct your people not to resist,” Li Fei told Vassar. She tapped her dataspike and spoke.
“Attention, this is Captain Denise Vassar.” Her voice echoed through the intercom. “We have been boarded by Arbiters. For your own safety, please offer them no resistance and comply with any instructions they give.”
“The Federation thanks you for your cooperation,” Li Fei said as he turned for the door.
Right at that moment, one of the security guards drew his weapon. I don’t know what he was thinking—maybe he was on the payroll of one of the wealthy fugitives who called Llyr station their home. Mike Mitchell saw the movement, turned, and aimed his rifle at the man’s head. That made him think better of it, and the guard pulled up his gun in a gesture of submission as we all walked by.
That idiot is lucky to be alive commented Raven Sommer.
She didn’t know how right she was. The Arbiter Force has extensive authority for a law enforcement agency, and no one would ever question the decision to use lethal force
against someone aiming a weapon at an Arbiter. Gabe was a good man, but I once saw him shoot a guy through the chest for taking aim at us like that and not think twice.
When we reached the airlock for the Havisham’s dock, the drop ship commander spoke to us over the shared channel. “You’d better get out here. It looks like they might be preparing to run.”
“Understood,” said Li Fei. “The docks should be closed.”
“I’m not seeing any sign of that from up here,” the commander told us.
“That bitch is either stupid or confident,” said Andrea. “They’re fucking with us.”
Captain Vassar had sounded the alarm right in front of us. What she’d said to the station was a veiled message to everyone on board. Arbiters are here. Offer them resistance and do not comply with any instructions they give.
Li Fei got the airlock door open. “We won’t have long.”
That’s when the Llyr security guards opened fire on us from behind. I don’t know what prompted it, but it was one of the stupidest and most suicidal gestures I’ve ever seen. I heard the shots but couldn’t feel anything beneath my armor. In our drop suits, we were too big to miss but too strong to harm.
Li Fei’s voice was a strange combination of amusement and anger. “So that’s how it is? We’re shutting this place down.”
He raked a burst of fire over the heads of the security guards. They ducked for cover as the bulkhead wall was pitted with two-foot wide scars. As a warning, it was incredibly effective. One guard tossed his gun away like it had just bitten him and threw his hands up. Another ran, but one recomposed himself and returned fire. Mike Mitchell shot him through the stomach and sent his torso pinwheeling away from his lower half.
That was it for the firefight, such as it was. The other security guards within line of sight all threw their guns down, raised their hands, and cowered in front of us.
“That was the most pathetic display I have ever seen in my life,” remarked Andrea. I couldn’t disagree with her, but it had also had the effect of delaying us from getting out to the Havisham. Was that the intention all along?
Sol Arbiter Box Set: Books 1-5 Page 77