by C. G. Hatton
He caught her eye, caught that look of concern, and straightened up, shaking off the fatigue as the lift doors opened onto Legal’s marble hallways. He stepped into the cool ambiance of Devon’s domain and walked, pulling energy from somewhere to complete the transformation. He still felt like shit, and he’d pay for it later, but for the minute he’d be as bright and sharp as everyone always expected him to be.
He took the offered board from the girl waiting for him and followed her through to a light and airy atrium. Real plants interwove their greenery around glass columns, tables and chairs set out café style in the centre. It gave the impression of a public area, relaxed and open but in reality only one client was ever entertained here at a time, confidentiality at a premium, clandestine seclusion guaranteed. It was an illusion that Devon nurtured.
It was also an illusion that they were alone – at least five guns were aimed into that central area. More than usual.
Banks and Martinez stayed at the door, another two guns watching his back.
Silas was sitting casually at the centre table.
NG walked forward.
Let the game commence.
“Nicely done.” Devon slipped into the chair opposite once their guest had gone, placing a data board on the smooth marble table top between them. “I’m impressed.”
NG raised his eyes. He was tired and not exactly needing her approval. He’d spent long enough working in Legal to know how to handle a client, not that she knew that. She was impressed that he’d pulled off a gambit that she was thinking could have cost them severely if it had backfired.
She stared at him, a smile dancing across her eyes as if she was pleased at her own judgement in him.
“Don’t,” he muttered.
“Don’t what? Don’t be impressed that you just nailed Silas to the wall?”
“I don’t like being threatened.” He didn’t like being summoned by a client who was bragging that they could get an acquisition completed and delivered at a fraction of the price demanded by the Thieves’ Guild and was sitting there insisting he match it.
He hadn’t. He’d threatened instantly to sever all ties and refuse to ever work for them again if they took this contract elsewhere.
High risk strategy.
Devon smiled and beckoned to her staff, sending a silent message through the Senson with an order to bring over drinks. “You dealt with it just fine,” she said out loud. “Silas was a fool to bring that in here. He should have known better. No one else in the galaxy has the kind of operatives we have here.”
She said ‘we’ – not so long ago that would have been ‘you’.
NG leaned forward. “Why the hell are the Merchants offering to run acquisitions, Devon?”
“Because Ballack is an arrogant, overconfident and smug son of a bitch who doesn’t care about anything but hard cash.”
Ballack had been president of the Merchants’ Guild for over three decades. He ran an old boys’ network of sycophantic supporters across both sides of the line and the guy had fended off pretenders to his throne with ease time and again. The Thieves’ Guild had always maintained an uneasy understanding with him. Business at arm’s length and a mutual distrust and reluctant respect for each other’s particular skill sets. But never outright conflict.
NG shook his head. “He’s offering acquisitions, direct to the client, at a price that will, to quote Silas, ‘blow the Thieves’ Guild out of the water’? It doesn’t make sense. Where’s Media? Why the hell did we not see this coming? We shouldn’t be finding out about this kind of crap from a client, for Christ’s sake.”
There was something in her expression that made him stop.
“What?” he said.
She slid the board across the table. “This just came in.”
NG looked down. It was a typical tab, filtered through a system of intermediaries to reach them. Objective, location, drop off, details for a preliminary pick up of intel regarding access – it was all there, along with Zach Hilyer clearly identified as the operative required to carry it out.
It was unheard of. Clients didn’t request specific operatives. No one outside the guild should even know the names of any of the field-ops.
It was another breach.
He rubbed his shoulder. Someone tried to kill him right here on the Alsatia, the Federation was touting around a bounty on LC, the Merchants were acting directly and openly against them and now a client asked for Hilyer by name? It felt like all their protections had been torn down and shredded by someone they couldn’t even see. The Thieves’ Guild was centuries old and it had never been exposed like this before.
Devon was quiet for once.
A tall thin guy brought over a tray of drinks, silently setting each glass down on the table with a napkin and backing away respectfully.
She waited until he was gone then reached to tap sharply on the board. “This enquiry is from the same source as the tab we found at Mendhel’s house on Earth.”
NG looked up. “How do we know?”
“We backtracked to the same courier and followed the money. It’s a corporation.”
“Which one?”
“NG, if I knew, I’d be telling you.” She was exasperated. They were all frustrated and they were all tired. “We’re good, but we’re not psychic. The trail ends. Abruptly. Whoever they are, they’re very good. And they know how good we are.” She threw up her hand to stop him speaking. “Don’t say it. We’ll keep at it and we’ll find them. Are you going to pull Hilyer back? You should use him as bait. That would speed up the process.” She sat back and folded her arms.
When she pushed like this, it drove her crazy when he didn’t respond. “Is it the same source as the bounty on LC?” he said simply.
He could hear her cursing him inside her head. “We don’t know,” she said, a muscle twitching along her jawline. “It could be. It probably is but we’re nowhere closer on that.” She leaned forward. “Speaking bluntly, NG, Acquisitions have made mistakes in the way those two were handled. No disrespect to Mendhel, but Anderton and Hilyer have been a disaster waiting to happen.”
“It’s how we work, Devon. You know that.”
She wasn’t about to relent. “You have an issue with discipline, NG. They went after something out there, freelancing. Hilyer turns up with his faked amnesia and Anderton disappears. You want to know what I think? They were bought. The package in Hilyer’s ship was a decoy and Anderton has the real package. God knows what it could be but it looks like someone wants it back badly enough to place a price on Anderton’s head in the millions for stealing it.”
NG picked up the glass and took a sip. It was malt whisky, expensive from the taste of it. He shook his head. “I know them. They wouldn’t betray us.”
“Hilyer’s record is appalling and I don’t know how Anderton has managed to scam you all into letting him get away with murder…”
She said it without thinking and cut off her next comment, the glare softening. He’d heard the rumours.
“You know I don’t believe that,” he said quietly. LC was a handful and needed a particular type of care, which wasn’t surprising considering his background, but he wasn’t a murderer and there was no way he would have turned against Mendhel.
“I didn’t mean it literally,” she said, frustrated again. “No one seriously thinks that’s what happened, whatever the rumour mill is saying. But listen to me, NG. You have operatives that can get away with behaviour like that here and you send them out there alone with no idea who could get to them. They were bought and they weren’t smart enough to pull off the scam.”
She was thinking that LC and Hil were the breach themselves. And he had to admit it was a possibility. Someone knew far more about the guild than had ever been public knowledge and those two field operatives were right in the middle of the whole mess.
“These people,” she said, tapping the board again, “dare contact us to demand Hilyer. Give him to them.”
NG nodded and drained t
he glass. He’d already decided what to do. He had an ulterior motive. There was no such thing as coincidence. If a corporation was behind this, responsible for assassinating Mendhel, he wanted to know if it was connected to the price on his head, and ultimately to the Order.
“Send out a Black on Hilyer,” he said. “O’Brien is checking in regularly – she’ll see it. Using him as bait isn’t a bad idea.”
There was an acrid smell of burnt out components still hanging in the air despite the tang of cleaning fluid. NG stood at the doorway to the Sphere, slouching, hands in pockets, watching the maintenance crew tear damaged panels from the surface of its curved interior bulkhead.
He hadn’t seen the estimate for the repairs yet but they were going to have to bring in specialists. The wrecked drone had been taken out in pieces. He traced a finger round a bullet hole by the door.
“You were damned lucky,” the Chief said, walking up to stand next to him.
NG shook his head. “I thought we were secure.”
“I heard the price is half a billion – that much cash on offer and people will find a way to you, whatever we do.”
NG glanced back down the corridor. Two of the Watch were there, heavily armed, still shadowing him at all times.
“That was one helluva trick,” the Chief said.
“The gravity?” Evelyn had slammed the AG on to maximum as soon as he was clear of the Sphere. The collision hadn’t just destroyed the drone, it had annihilated the integrity of the zero gravity field.
“No, the stunt you pulled in the pool. Christ, NG, we all thought you were dead. Do you know how long you were out?”
NG shrugged. He knew exactly how long he’d been out but they didn’t need to know that. He’d told Evelyn that he must have blacked out. He turned away from the Sphere and said, “I need to talk to you about Quinn.”
The Chief walked with him. “He’s good with it.”
He’d better be, they had no choice. Asking Quinn to take on Mendhel’s field-ops had the potential to be disastrous. The two men were – had been – their two best handlers. Mendhel’s operatives topped the standings by virtue of the fact he’d always taken the most difficult tabs for them, higher value, more risky, more rewards if they pulled them off. He’d also always had a way of getting the best from the most difficult characters who tended to be the most talented. LC was unpredictable, reckless and impetuous. Hil had a temper that was as much frustration at himself and everyone around him as any real anger. Sorensen was arrogant – quiet but condescending to anyone he felt was beneath him. Mendhel had always had the knack of being able to put them all at ease in their own way so they wanted to do well for him.
Quinn, on the other hand, was cautious with little tolerance for anyone he thought of as precious. His operatives were the solid ones, mid-ranking, steady and reliable.
The other difference between the two was that Quinn had never been a field-op himself. That was going to be the real sticking point. Operatives like LC and Hil tended to find it hard to respect anyone who hadn’t been out there themselves. What they didn’t know, what Quinn had asked him to keep private, was that Quinn was ex-special forces – twenty years in the Earth military.
“Good,” NG said. “We have no choice. A tab has come in for Hil. Same source that got Mendhel killed. Asking for Hilyer by name. We’re going to use him as bait. Quinn’s going to be handling one of the most sensitive tabs we’ve ever accepted.”
Chapter 7
She sat back, resting her goblet on her knee, slender fingers wrapped around its stem of twisted metal. “This corporation knows a lot about us – is the situation irreparable?”
“Considering what has happened since, no, it is not.”
“Your little protégé is not subtle at times.”
“He does what is needed. And he is prepared to take risks. That is a rare quality in these times. It is too easy to live and let others take on the daemons that surround us.”
“But his actions cause ripples, noise. He alerts others to our distress. And the danger is that once the cracks are seen to appear,” she said, “it is very easy for the malicious and small-minded to be manipulated.”
The Man shook his head with a pah. “They are like vultures circling. They are watching and waiting. They don’t need to see an alert to know what is awry. He does what is necessary. He has more patience than I when dealing with these creatures.”
•
It was another two days before O’Brien brought Hilyer back in. NG gave clearance for them to dock and sat in Ops with Quinn, waiting. They’d gone over the plan with the Chief and whichever way they looked at it, there was a risk but they could see no other way. They had no other leads.
The Man had docked that morning, with no summons, no orders, no word or comment on what had happened, simply replacing the Watch who were shadowing NG with two elite guards.
Those guards were now standing outside, alongside the guys from the Watch that NG had briefed with his own orders. He hoped to hell this didn’t go down the way he was anticipating.
Quinn was sitting motionless, almost to attention, at the table.
“Go hard on him,” NG said. He was perched on the bench along the wall. He wanted to set Hilyer on edge. The kid had had enough time to get over whatever had caused his amnesia. Sean had taken him to see Badger and if he was fit enough to run the gauntlet of hostilities on Redgate, he was fit enough to face up to whatever the hell it was he’d been doing with LC. “Let’s see if we can shock it out of him.”
A slight twitch of a smile tugged at one edge of Quinn’s mouth. The big man was still firmly fixed in anger over Mendhel. They’d served together. And he was yet to be convinced that it wasn’t LC and Hil who had caused his death. Going hard on Hilyer wasn’t going to need any acting.
NG tapped the board he was holding against his thigh. He could sense Hilyer approaching, a complicated mix of emotions, flanked by a cold presence on either side. The guards outside the door tensed, stepping aside as Hil’s escort joined them, directing the field-op to enter the briefing room.
NG waited while Hil pulled out a chair and sat down, temper brewing. The kid refused to look at Quinn, furious at everything that was happening to him. Hilyer liked to be in control and it was gnawing at him that he didn’t know what was going on. It wasn’t easy to absorb that kind of raw sentiment and rather than try to ease him, NG had to let it go. He needed Hil to be unsettled to be able to read the truth in his mind beyond the haze of pain and confusion that he was still carrying.
He threw the board down onto the table before anyone could say a word. “Mr Quinn here is your new handler,” he said. “You have a tab.”
Hil almost started hyperventilating. Oh god, he was thinking, panicking, Skye isn’t ready.
She wasn’t. She was still in the repair bay. Hilyer had never worked with any other ship and they were close; she was probably more like a mother to him than any human family the kid had ever known.
NG carried on before Hil could say anything. “Skye isn’t ready, we know. You’ll be going out with Genoa. Kase and Martha will be running escort for you. This isn’t a usual tab. These aren’t usual circumstances.”
Hil picked up the board with his left hand. His right was encased in a brace, nestled in his lap, pain throbbing from the fractured bone in his wrist.
NG had a moment of hesitation. There was nothing but confusion and panic in the kid’s mind. Normally they’d never dream of sending an operative out into the field in that state. He could sense Quinn steeling himself.
It wasn’t easy for any of them.
Hilyer’s hand started shaking and he quickly put the board down, hoping they hadn’t noticed, embarrassed at the physical state he was in. “Am I back on the list?” he said, confrontational. “The Chief said I was grounded.”
NG jumped down and pulled up a seat at the table.
“This isn’t a normal tab,” he said again. “This has come from the same source as the one Mendhel was han
dling from Earth.” He threw that in quickly and watched Hilyer for his reaction.
“How do you know what, where…?”
“We know. Don’t ask how, it’s complicated. But we know. Trust us. We know that it was a professional hit on Mendhel. And we haven’t been able to contact his daughter.” Another fast barb thrown in.
Hil looked horrified.
NG carried on relentlessly. “You left here with LC presumably to meet Mendhel about this tab. He turns up dead, Anya is missing, LC is missing and we’re still trying to piece together what that job actually was. We want to sort this out. No one messes with the guild. We’re not going to let them get away with this. This new tab is definitely from the same source. And they’re asking for you… by name.”
That made the kid turn white. “How do they know who I am?”
“Hil, like I said, this isn’t an ordinary tab. Whatever happened with Mendhel, these people now want you. We want you to take this tab and then we’ll see what happens.”
“So I’m bait?”
Smart, despite whatever it was that had screwed with his mind. “Yeah,” NG said bluntly without rising to Hilyer’s blatant insubordination.
Hil faltered slightly and his voice was shaking as he said, “Does the Chief know about this?”
“It’s not his decision. We want LC back and we want that package.” It was almost a bluff. They didn’t even know if there was a package. But if there was, if Hilyer knew there was, there was no harm stressing the point. NG pushed it further. “You know what we have to do, Hil. You know we won’t let anything happen to you but the integrity of the guild is everything. You know that, don’t you?”
Hil nodded, an automatic response.
“Legal are trying to trace whoever is behind this but they’re embarrassed at how long it’s taking them to get anywhere,” NG said, standing up. “And as far as this tab goes, Quinn will handle things from this end.”
He looked at them both and walked to the door. “I’ll leave you to sort out the details. But be aware that we are still investigating Mendhel’s death and we’re running an internal investigation. And however this goes down, we won’t be losing anyone else.”