by C. R. Daems
"You Guard are really paranoid," Jarde said, laughing when Wahle’s team began taking a retina scan of each individual Jarde confirmed had authorization to be in the family’s wing.
"We are contracted to many planets and although the inhabitants are all human, they don’t all look alike. It would take us months to be able to differentiate one person from another and then only if we saw that person on a regular basis. This is safer."
"I guess you’re right. I would probably have trouble identifying each of your detail by name even after having met them. Several do look alike." He laughed. "If someone killed one of my troops and put on his uniform, I could see how he could be mistaken for one of mine. I’m afraid we tend to think in terms of forcible entry by armed individuals and not by individual assassins."
"Forcible entrants are easier to identify," I said, grinning.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Molova: Hezou. Meeting of the Princes
The first meeting of the princes was scheduled for three days hence. The next day, I stood in the dining room with Corporals Ganz and Nadel, and Private Toch while the Prince, Sophia, and Jovana ate breakfast. Towards the end of the meal, Badal turned towards me.
"Don’t you ever sit?"
"Not normally, sir. Standing keeps us alert."
"But you have guards at the entrance, so you will have plenty of notice if there is trouble."
"That’s a logical assumption, but I’d rather not wager your lives on the assumption that out of a hundred attempts on your lives, one hundred times I will get warned in time to be ready. My detail, our contract, and I would be dead today if the rebels at Lanzhou hadn’t made logical assumptions about their opposition."
"I see your point and would rather you didn’t wager my families’ lives on assumptions."
"Sir, you have a Prince Atilio to see you," I said, reading the message on my Mfi.
"Have him escorted to the reception room," Badal said, and I relayed the message to Sergeant Preis, who was on duty at the entrance. He would let the army guard know to escort him, since he couldn’t leave his post until relieved. Several minutes later, Badal left the table, and I accompanied him with private Toch following. I entered first, nodding for Toch to stay outside and guard the door.
"Good to see you old friend," Badal said as he entered and shook the man’s hand, who was more interested in me. Atilio was at least twenty years Badal’s senior, a stocky, overweight man with grey-streaked hair and a sagging face.
"It’s hard to keep up with the rumors about you, Badal. It appears most of them are true except for the one about you being ambushed and killed." He laughed and padded him on the shoulder. "I’m glad you’re taking precautions. The threat is real, and you’re in great danger, my friend."
"Wine, Atilio?" Badal asked, waving towards a long table with a variety of bottles and glasses. At Atilio’s nod, he selected a red wine, poured two glasses full, and handed one to him.
"The rumor said you hired the Black Guard, and they had women… But I don’t think any of us thought they were guards," he said, looking in my direction.
"Captain Sapir, this is Prince Atilio. Captain Sapir is in charge of the Black Guard detail."
"That will not go down well with Princes Fermin or Hadarek," Atilio said, still staring at me. Badal gave a short laugh.
"It should be interesting. Captain Sapir was in charge at Lanzhou."
Atilio jerked his gaze back to Badal, then he laughed. "You’re right. It should be interesting—Azarias meets the Black Guard."
They spent the rest of the day discussing the new laws and changes to old ones that would be introduced at the meeting. Every now and then, Atilio glanced in my direction and gave a short laugh.
* * *
I had just finished a breakfast of sausage, potatoes, and bread when my Mfi beeped once. Private Krebs’s name flashed in the upper left hand corner of the screen and Lieutenant Ceder’s on the right, indicating the message was for Ceder and informational for me.
"Unknown servant wanting entry. Contacted Gilda." Scrolled across the screen.
It was early and no one was up yet, so I decided to venture out to see Jarde’s security. As I entered the hallway, Gilda, the senior housekeeper, was heading for the entrance. She nodded to me. When we reached the entrance, Ceder, Krebs, and a small thin woman stood waiting.
"Do you know this woman, Gilda?" Ceder asked. "She claims she is a replacement for one of your staff."
"No, but Luisa called last night and said she was sick. I called the agency we use, and they said they would send someone this morning," Gilda said.
"Private Krebs has scanned her, Captain. No metal," Ceder said. "Krebs, scan her eyes and register her."
"Name?" Krebs asked.
"Savina," the woman said, smiling at him. He took a retina scan, entered her name, and waved for her to enter. I held up my hand.
"What position does your sick maid provide?"
"Kitchen staff. Food preparation and serving. Why?"
"You and Savina come with me. Lieutenant Ceder, you too." I turned and walked down to the reception room and waved everyone in. "Strip, Savina."
"Why?" both Savina and Gilda said. Ceder frowned.
"I’ve been scanned," Savina said.
"Because I said to." I didn’t know her and neither did Gilda, and there is more than one way to kill a person. Savina’s face turned stubborn looking, and she put her hands on her hips.
"I’m leaving. I won’t be treated like this. You can find someone else," she said, looking a Gilda.
"You may leave, Savina, but after you strip. You have a choice about leaving but not about stripping."
"You have no authority. I have rights!" she said loudly, her eyes darting around the room.
"Now, or Lieutenant Ceder is going to tranquilize you. Personally, I’d strip if I were you. The drug produces a nasty headache," I said, having experienced it as part of my training. It provided me a real life example of what a person felt and was capable of while recovering. It had taken me a full ten minutes before my body could function normally and gave me a headache that lasted for over an hour. After seeing Ceder draw his weapon, she slowly began removing her clothing and handed each garment to Ceder, who inspected each article. When she was totally naked, I walked around her inspecting her body. On the back of her right thigh was a bandage with a slight, round impression in the middle. I reached down and pulled it away.
"Ouch!" she shouted and made a grab for it.
"Savina, if I dissolve this pill in water and make you drink it—"
"No… please." Her voice rose several octaves, and her face flushed.
"Who was this meant for? Honesty will get you mercy. Lies will get you much suffering."
"Prince Badal," she sobbed. "I had no choice—" she began, but I interrupted with a raised hand.
"You may get dressed, Savina," I said as I clicked on Jarde’s call number.
"Captain Sapir, how can I help you?" he asked.
"I have a woman in Prince Badal’s reception room who I’d like you to take into custody. She’s part of a plot to poison the Prince."
"I’ll be right over." He cut the connection and was entering the room before Savina finished dressing. I handed him the bandage and pill.
"How?" he said, looking from the pill to Gilda, who stood with tears in her eyes staring at the woman.
"I thought the Captain evil, depraved, when he insisted my replacement cook strip," Gilda said, looking at me. "I’m sorry. You were right, and it’s saved the Prince’s life."
"You had her stripped?" Jarde asked, sounding amused.
"The stakes are high," I said. "Which means we can expect the Prince’s opponents to use extraordinary methods to achieve their goal, and the Guard to be unreasonably cautious."
"Your reputation is well deserved. Princess Sophia chose well."
* * *
The story traveled quickly, and I heard a variety of rumors over the next two days. They varied depending
on the speaker’s alliance. The prince’s supporters claimed the woman captain of the Guard had psychic abilities; his detractors claimed the woman captain was a debauched individual and had abused an innocent woman for her amusement. It made me more paranoid as the opposition would now be more careful in the future. I decided to spread my new paranoia around and called a meeting of my team leaders.
When they had all arrived, Zinn smiled. "Lieutenant Ceder, many of us are shocked to learn we are being led by a depraved woman."
"Yes, Commander Wexler will undoubtedly have her whipped and relieved of command when we get back. But for now we must endure her leadership. It’s our tradition and duty," he said, trying his best to look serious, but he had to laugh when everyone started clapping. I love these people—my family.
"And until that time…" I smiled. "…I want each of you to think evil. Consider what you would do to get past the Guard. We must assume our enemy isn’t stupid and will be more cautious, devious, and determined in their future efforts. They haven’t given up."
"I think the best policy is to tell your team if they have any doubts to call you," Ceder said, looking to me. "And if you have any doubts call Captain Sapir or me."
I nodded. "Collectively, we are stronger than individually. So when there is any doubt, the more people considering the issue the better."
* * *
The morning of the meeting of the princes, Badal requested I attend the family breakfast. When everyone had been seated, he began.
"Captain Sapir, today is the general meeting of the princes, and I wanted my family to hear your concerns and any change in procedure you anticipate. By the way, the princes are not allowed to have guards in the room during the meeting. Anyone entering the room must be unarmed. The Molova military will be guarding the room and enforce that edict."
"Are you allowed an unarmed advisor in the room?" I asked. I didn’t like the idea of Badal being out of our sight. An assassin’s odds were always good if he didn’t care about being killed or captured. And zealots certainly didn’t care.
"There are seats against the wall behind each prince, for runners, servants, and sometimes advisors. But a Black Guard… They will never allow it."
"You can point out you’ve had two attempts on your life since leaving home and should be entitled to have an unarmed observer present who can call for help if necessary. And how can an unarmed woman be a threat to anyone?"
Sophia choked on the juice she was sipping. "They might have less to fear from a wild forest cat roaming the meeting… But their natural prejudices may delude them into agreeing."
"Actually, each state is allowed up to three unarmed persons available for his needs. There is no stipulation as to their function. The military are armed and there to ensure there is no trouble," Badal said, and began eating. There was little conversation for the rest of the meal. Sophia did send a few amused glances in my direction.
* * *
Badal stood and inspected his red jacket and white pants before turning towards me. "Here, you will need this." He handed me a silver earpiece. "Yours will allow us to communicate and for you to hear any conversations on the open and my personal channel." I took the piece and placed it in my ear. A small microphone extended out several centimeters along my cheek. "Well, Captain Sapir, are you ready for your debut?"
"Yes, sir," I said, removing my laser and Mfw from their holders and handing them to Sergeant Zinn.
"What about the whip?" he asked.
"If anyone asks, it’s a symbol of my rank in the guard and would be harmless against guns."
"Is it?"
"Yes and yes at ten meters." I smiled. He nodded with a snort and headed for the exit with me and Sergeant Solow following.
"Sergeant Solow, I want the prince’s team on alert during the meeting. I’ve already discussed the issue with Colonel Jarde, who will also have a team on alert."
"Yes, sir."
"Sir?" Badal asked, turning his head to look at me.
"We have men and women in the Guard, but not on duty. Then we are just Guards," I said while following Badal down the hallway with two male servants carrying containers. We exited his wing into the foyer and then went through the door leading into the conference area—a one thousand two hundred meter square area created by the seven attached buildings. A seven-sided, stainless steel table sat in the middle of the room. Six of the positions were inscribed with the princes’ coats-of-arms while the seventh had the Molova seal. Each seating position lined up with the prince’s door leading to his specific wing. Three padded chairs sat against the wall behind each position. Badal walked to the table, exchanged greetings with the three other princes already seated, and sat. I followed the two servants to the right and took the chair closest to the door. After we entered, a Molova guard closed the door behind us, pulled down a bar locking the door, and then took up a position in front of it. He was armed with a multi-functional rifle capable of firing shards, bullets, and a laser beam.
Several minutes later, two additional princes entered and the doors behind them were locked. As soon as the last door was locked, a tall man dressed in white entered and stood behind the position with the Molova seal.
"Welcome, princes of Molova. As president of Molova, I officially open the 236th Council of Princes. Before we address the issues on the official agenda, are there any procedural matters?" Although he was a good thirty meters away and spoke softly, his voice was clear in my earpiece. A red light flashed in front of one of the two princes who had entered last. "The Chair recognizes Prince Femin."
"I object to a woman being in the chamber and to a Guard being present."
"Although it is unusual for a woman to be one of a prince’s allowed guests, there is no rule against it."
"She’s… she’s a Black Guard. There is a rule against armed guards attending," he said.
"I don’t believe she’s armed. Ma’am, would you stand, please, so Frederic can ensure you are unarmed."
Since I was the only woman in the room, he obviously meant me. I stood, raised my arms in the air, and slowly turned 360 degrees so the guard at the door, who was staring in my direction, could inspect me. He took several steps in my direction, and a smile appeared on his lips.
"Look but don’t touch. I bite," I said, smiling as sweetly as I could. His smile faded, and he looked towards the speaker, saying something which I assumed was on a private channel. The speaker said something I didn’t hear and the guard stepped back to the door.
"Ma’am, what is that around your waist? Fredric says it appears to be a… whip."
"It is, Mr. Speaker. I’m a captain in the Black Guard, and the whip as well as the stars and dragon on my sleeve are symbols of my rank."
"There! She’s armed," Prince Femin shouted.
The Speaker stood looking at me for some time before speaking. "Prince Badal has had two assassination attempts in the past several days so I believe his concerns are justified. And although a woman or a Guard as a guest is unusual, neither violates our current rules so long as the guard is unarmed. And according to our current definition of armed, she’s unarmed. I doubt a whip would be very effective against the conference guards’ multi-functional weapons. If you wish to submit a revision to our current rules, we will take it up at the appropriate time, but for now, she may remain." He nodded in my direction.
The next several hours were interesting. Princes Femin and Hadarek appeared to be trying to delay the voting on the current bill being considered, judging by the many attempts to add or change wording that the speaker repeatedly overruled as against the rules. My paranoid brain went on alert—high alert when it failed to determine the possible problem. We were in a locked room with armed guards who all seemed bored, and I doubted any of the princes would take direct action since it would result in prison and possible execution. They would have one of their loyal followers do the dirty work. So the hours seemed like days as my mind labored over the itch it couldn’t reach to scratch. Around noon, appearing
as frustrated as I felt, the Speaker called for a two hour break. Everyone rose except Hadarek and Fermin, and the guards turned and unlocked the doors. Hadarek turned to Fermin and smiled, then spoke into his wrist unit, which I assumed was a communication device.
I hit the emergency icon on my Mfi and sprung towards the door. The guard had just released the locking bar and was getting ready to open the door as I arrived. He watched open mouthed as I slammed the bar back across the door, locking it.
"Don’t," I said, as his hand went towards the weapon lying across his chest. He sneered as his hand gripped it, and it swung upward. I dropped onto my left leg and executed a 360 degree sweep through his legs. He went vertical, hung suspended for a second, and then hit the ground with a thud and the air exploded out of him. I snatched his weapon and scanned the room, waving Badal over to the guest chairs. Only one guard still remained in the room, in front of the Speaker’s door, and he still hadn’t realized what I had done. Before he could, alarms began blasting.
"Mr. Speaker, please inform your guards I’m not a threat. The attack is coming from Prince Badal’s entrance, so I locked the door," I said as an explosive charge hit the door. It held. A second charge followed, which caused visual distortions in the door, and the metal turned red hot. Meanwhile the guard on the floor was scrambling away like a crab when a third explosive charge tore the door from its frame. I switched the weapon to projectiles and waited. A second later, two men stepped through the door, one swiveling his military grade weapon right and the other one left. I shot the one turning right towards me through the eye and the other man in the back of his head before he realized what had happened. Silence. The Speaker must have notified the guards on a separate channel, because they were now all in the room with guns pointing at the opening. I put my weapon on the floor and stepped back. I didn’t want one of the guards to confuse me with those attacking the room. Except for the Speaker, who I believe was giving them directions, I would have been the target.