“I like you.” Restive smiled.
“Well, I always try to remember that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Kirk smiled back. “So, now that we’ve established you like me, and I’m having some very disturbing, yet strangely arousing dreams about you, how about we go our way and you go yours? Maybe we can hook up later and catch up on old times?”
Restive laughed. “Because I like you, I will kill you last. I will make it as quick and painless as possible.”
“Well, I suppose that’s a step in the right direction,” Kirk said.
“However, I have a couple of mistakes to remedy.” Restive turned her attention towards Lu and Rubik. “I should never have allowed you to walk away from our first meeting, Special agent. I will not make that mistake this time.”
“And you.” The assassin pointed at Rubik. “I thought I shot you once already. I must have missed. That is annoying, as I consider myself the best there is. Nevertheless, I’ll set that situation right as well.”
What happened next seemed to happen at a slower speed than normal. Kirk experienced this before. The last time was when Lu had taken down the thug from Titan for the second time. Now he knew he would have to be the one who acted.
He had tried to distract restive and allow Lu time to recover enough to help him. While she did seem to have come to her senses, she was still far from what he expected. Or needed. Rubik was a mess now. He was kneeling and weeping openly.
His own P.R.P was on a gantry less than a foot away from his quivering hand while he still had Kirk and Lu’s weapons stuffed in his belt. It was doubtful he or Lu would be able to do anything much to help.
As soon as Restive had finished addressing Lu and Rubik, she raised her gun and fired once at Rubik. Energy lanced from the barrel and hit the security officer in the chest. A small sphere appeared where the center of his torso had been moments earlier. Kirk watched in horror as he realized what was happening. The same thing had happened to Rubik’s colleague outside his own apartment.
With only a portion of his body encased in the bubble, there was no way the person shot could survive. A weapon intended to be an effective yet non-lethal one had been modified to become devastating deadly.
A shudder, different from the fear that had been evident in Rubik, ran through his body. But instead of falling face down on the gantry, the surrounding flesh seemed to pucker and then come together again, swallowing the small sphere.
“What the...?” said Restive and Kirk at the same time.
The assassin stared in disbelief at Rubik, who, to her mind, should be dead.
“Casio!” barked Kirk. “Make her look like Richard Nixon!”
“The reviled political leader from your planet?”
“That’s the one,” answered Kirk running at Restive, a look of grim determination set on his face.
Too late, Restive Pro realized she had made a grave error. She swung her P.R.P around to face Kirk, but fired to soon and one of the feed containers began to spill feed granules as the front popped and a small hole appeared. The small gas filled sphere rolled through the spilled feed.
Before restive could get off another shot, she dissolved and shimmered before Kirk’s eyes. Instead of the sexy female assassin, he was aiming a punch at the face of the rumpled ex-President of the United States. He was only slightly surprised that he didn’t feel whiskers as his fist came smashing into the five o’clock shadow now covering the assassin’s chin.
Restive staggered backwards as Kirk pressed his advantage and brought his other fist up under her chin, sending her spinning over the rail on the gantry and down into the swarming Kenturkee chickens.
Kirk ran to look down, but all he could see was a rising could of dust as the spinning frenzied birds fought and trampled to get what they thought was food. In seconds, Kirk could see nothing but dust. He turned to face Lu and Rubik. Both were starting to feel better and Lu took the chance to retrieve their weapons.
“Come on,” Kirk said. “The last thing we need is to get caught in an investigation as to what happened here.”
Lu nodded and set off after him
“Wait!” called Rubik, who was now leaning against the gantry railing.
“Look,” said Kirk sharply. “We didn’t kill anyone.”
All three looked down into the pens below.
“Okay, let me rephrase that. We didn’t kill your colleagues. We really do have a mission to complete. If you don’t believe us, come along. Assuming either of us survives, we’ll be more than happy to go see your magistrate back on Titan.”
“OK, I’ll come with you. Now that I have you I don’t intend to lose you again,” said Rubik. “Where
are we going next?”
By the time they arrived at Kenturk’s Hyper- Luminal departure lounge, they had missed their scheduled time of departure. Lu thought it better to make their journey to the departure lounge a long and winding one. She was worried that if restive Pro survived, she would make straight for there and hopefully assume they had already departed. If, as Kirk thought was more likely, she had been killed in the fall from the gantry into a raging herd of panicked and apparently hungry chickens, there was a chance that the local law enforcement would be watching the same location. Given that a security officer from a previous encounter was tagging along now, Lu was eager to keep their entourage from expanding further. The receptionist assured them she would work them in should another cancellation occur, but they were probably looking at a wait of several more hours. They all sank dejectedly into seats and watched as fellow travelers set off across the universe.
“Will someone tell me why we have to go to Prio?” Rubik asked reluctantly.
“You don’t have to,” Kirk replied.
“You can go back to Titan,” Lu added.
“I’ve told you, I can’t...”
“You can’t go back without accomplishing at least part of your mission and honoring your fallen colleagues,” interrupted Kirk. “Yes we know that. We’ve also told you that if, by some remote stretch of imagination, we survive, and the universe isn’t reduced to its pre Big Bang state...” He turned to Lu. “Does this mean there was no Big Bang?”
Lu shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t know.
“Well, anyway, as we said, should we live long enough we’ll catch up with you. We’ll tell them what a hero you were, recommend they name a section of the spaceport after you. And clear up the whole mess.”
“And as I told you...” Rubik began again defiantly.
“OK, this is just going in circles, “ said Lu.
“You want to come, fine. Just don’t get in the way, and don’t do anything that will compromise this mission.”
“And after?” Rubik asked.
“Assuming any of us live that long, we’ll sort out your problem,” Kirk said.
They all sat quietly again and continued to study the comings and goings of the departure lounge.
“But why Prio?”
Kirk and Lu turned to face Rubik.
“We told you. In less than two days the universe will cease to be if we don’t rescue a prisoner held in Prio,” said Kirk.
“Really?”
Kirk and Lu nodded again, yes.
They sat silently again lost in their own thoughts.
“So what was the deal with changing the way Pro looked when you attacked her?” Lu asked.
Kirk shrugged his shoulders, slightly embarrassed.
“Yeah, who’s this Richard Nixon guy? Rubik added.
“He was a former President on Earth,” Kirk explained. “He got caught with his hand in the
cookie jar and lost his position.”
Lu nodded, as if she understood.
“So you and he had some history then?” asked Rubik. “When he did wh
at he did, you were there to bring him down?”
“Not exactly.” Kirk looked embarrassed. “He was actually out of office before I ever heard of him. In the history of my planet, there have been much more obviously evil people who have done things much worse than he did.”
“So why did you attack him?” Lu was confused now.
“It wasn’t so much him personally, although I always did think he looked kind of shifty. It was more about not hitting restive Pro.”
Rubik and Lu stared at him still confused.
“Look, where I come from you don’t hit girls,”
Kirk said.
“What?” Lu exclaimed.
“Hey, it’s the way I was raised.”
“But Restive Pro is not a girl! And she was holding a modified P.R.P. on us with every intent to use it in a lethal manner.”
“Well she was still the female of her species,”
Kirk sounded defensive.
“Whatever,” Lu said. “Just promise me that next time we’re facing imminent death, you can get a grip on your social graces long enough to save us.”
“Excuse me?” the receptionist at the counter called across to them, saving Kirk from any further defense of his actions. “I have a cancellation in two minutes. If you’d like to go over to departure chamber beta. As soon as it’s free you’ll be ready to go.”
Kirk smiled and waved his thanks to the receptionist as the three of them got up and wandered over to the door of departure chamber beta.
They stood and watched as the light above the door flashed from red to green.
“Shall we go?” said Kirk opening the door.
As the door slid closed behind them, Kirk realized the general design of the chamber was the same as on Titan. The condition of this one was nicer, but it seemed to contain the same basic components.
“Sarge?” Lu addressed her F.R.B. as she slotted it in the center control panel alongside Casio and Rubik’s F.R.B. “Override the preset arrival coordinates on Sevres Prime and plot in the one for Prio that we discussed.”
“Very well ma’am.” Sarge replied.
“OK, next, while that’s happening, we need to make sure that when we arrive we’re disguised,” she said.
“Before we do that, I need to deal with this,” said Rubik as he plucked the small sphere from his torso.
“I meant to ask,” said Kirk, looking slightly disgusted as Rubik pulled the clear ball from his torso. “How did you that?”
“He’s a Prokaryote,” Lu said.” Or rather he is a lot of Prokaryotes.”
“A what?” Kirk asked.
“How did you know?” Rubik asked.
“Hard to imagine any other species being able to take a hit like that and survive,” Lu answered.
“I’m guessing that Restive Pro hit you back at the apartment too. That you survived and your chief didn’t, right?”
Rubik nodded, yes.
“You are in a sense an ancestor of mine,” said Casio, awe evident in his tone.
“Would somebody mind filling in the dumb human, please?” Kirk interrupted. “Just try and remember that up until a few days ado I thought my planet was the only inhabited one in the universe. And that I don’t know as much as you think I do.”
“I apologize,” said Rubik. “Prokaryotes are a species that are only slightly larger that what you would think of as a single cell organism. However, when we combine we have the ability to form far more complex structures, such as a human.”
“That doesn’t explain why you weren’t killed.”
“What you see is not as actual living form but more a facsimile. The Prokaryotes that form what you see are not existing in the same way you do. They all exist as separate beings and work together.
Some of us take on the form of muscles, others of a circulatory system, while others act as a nervous system. When I was shot, it hurt, and was a shock to all the Prokaryotes both inside and outside of the containment sphere. But none were permanently harmed.”
Rubik took the sphere and gave it a sharp rap on the chamber wall. The ball broke and the gaseous contents hissed out. Rubik thrust his hand into the mist and began to spin it in a small circle, faster and faster. The gas began to cling to his hand until finally it seemed that his hand had swollen and all the gas had disappeared. As Kirk watched, the swelling in the hand went away and Rubik gavehim a slightly embarrassed smile.
“Also, I believe that my species is the organic inspiration for the nanoprobes that allow you to interact with your F.R.B. units.”
“Okay, now that we’ve completed Xenobiology 101, can we get to the matter at hand?” Lu asked.
“Hang on,’ Kirk said. “You can do all that, and you’re working as a security guard on a space station as far out of the way as it’s possible to be. Why?”
Lu turned and looked at Rubik as well now, and he looked very uncomfortable.
“Did you do something wrong.” Lu prompted.
“No!” Rubik exclaimed. “Well. Yes... Well, not all of us...”
“I’m getting confused here,” said Kirk.
“Most of us wanted to see more of the universe, so we stowed away on a transport ship visiting our home world and set off to explore.”
“Most?” Lu questioned.
Rubik looked embarrassed again. “We were working together when the opportunity to go just dropped before us. Some of us didn’t want to leave, but they were mostly in our left elbow anyway.”
“So you kidnapped your own left elbow?” said
Kirk in amazement.
“Remember, I’m not like you. The way I appear is not the way I am, or rather, we are.”
“So you’re on the run, still holding hostages?”
Kirk couldn’t help but smile at the thought.
“It’s why we can never go home,” explained Rubik, obviously feeling a great deal of shame. “And why we chose our current profession. To atone in some small way for our crime.”
“Well, as long as we have that all settled,” said Kirk. Turning to Lu and rolling his eyes.
“What’s next partner?”
“Disguises,” Lu replied.
“Disguises?” Kirk asked.
Lu nodded yes. “North, can you arrange yourselves into the form of a Prion?”
“I think so, replied Rubik. “Though some reference would be useful.”
“Casio, can you create an Active Reality Bubble around Kirk?” Lu asked.
“As good as done,” replied the F.R.B.
“I thought you said this was illegal.” Kirk asked.
“You have a better idea?” Lu asked.
Kirk thought about it for a moment. “Active Reality Bubble, Cas,” he said.
The image of Kirk shimmered as he became, to anyone watching, a seven-foot tall lizard.
“That helps.” Rubik smiled as he gave a shudder and quickly rearranged his component parts into a visage of a Prion. When he was done he looked at
Lu. “What about you, Agent Pillah?”
Lu gave a sly smile. “Sarge, switch off my Forced Reality Bubble.”
The image of the short, slender woman shimmered away and left behind the grinning lizard that was the way Lu really looked.
Rubik leapt backwards and slammed into the wall of the chamber.
“You... You’re... Yo...” he stammered.
“A Prion?” Lu asked. “Yes, I’m a Prion.”
She looked at Rubik and grinned a wide toothy grin. Quickly her tongue shot out and flicked around her eyes.
“Okay, I knew what you were, and I also know that you’re one of the good guys. But can you please not do that eye licking thing again.” Kirk squirmed. “At least not in front of me.”
“Course is set,” Sar
ge informed them.
“Let’s go then, shall we?” said Lu.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The Lord High Minister of Prio sat and gazed at his console. A distinctly uneasy feeling was filling him. His spies were reporting in, and what they were telling him was not what he wanted to hear. Lawando had left Sevres Prime. He knew where she had gone, and the idea of going to her was becoming more attractive with each passing hour. However, since his best spy had left the place where he needed her most, he now had to rely on less able agents.
As soon as Restive Pro was reported arriving on Kenturk, the Prime Minister knew she must be close on the trail of her quarry. He settled a little at that point. He knew it was only a matter of time before she reported her mission had been successful.
Hours passed and no report was forthcoming.
He toyed with the idea on contacting her, but thought better of it. Perhaps she was stalking her targets and would not take kindly to an interruption. The message received an hour ago had shaken him severely though.
A Kenturkee spy had reported in.
The spy had watched Restive Pro enter the chicken pens near the spaceport. Knowing that he didn’t want to get caught anywhere near the assassin at work, he stayed at a safe distance. He had been close enough to hear P.R.P. fire and then silence.
Having waited for several minutes, the spy then decided to go and see what had happened. At that same moment three people came running out the way Pro had gone in. He was sure that two of the three were Universal Securitat agents. After a quick look in the chicken pens, he could see no sign of Restive Pro. It was evident that a fight had occurred one of the gantries above the pens.
The spy then quickly headed for the Hyper-Luminal departure lounge, assuming the three who escaped would head there. At first he was worried he’d missed them, but as he was about to leave, the three entered. After they had made their jump the spy made discreet inquiries as to their destination.
He found out that they had gone to Sevres Prime.
The Prime Minister greeted this new with mixed emotions. One hand he could not deny that he was slightly glad that Restive Pro appeared to be dead. While she was possibly his most effective tool when dealing with problems he wished would simply disappear, he was also frightened that one day she might become a loose end that needed to disappear.
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