by Reiter
“You getting ready for your close-up?” Mel asked as he looked at the virtual screen projected from his brace-com.
“Anyone ever tell you that you have a big mouth?” Siekor asked.
“Sure,” Mel replied without looking up from his work. “All the time. Nowadays they say it with a smile though.”
“Do I look like I’m smiling?”
“You look like all you need is some privacy, a dab of hand lotion, and three minutes!” Mel returned as a light started to flash on his display. “Okay, Satithe, that should be the district.”
“Affirmative, Tank,” Satithe replied. “I now have control of the sensors network for the region and the site. I will cause a power fluctuation in thirty seconds. There is no Grid Support on-site, but their monitoring facility will more than likely request a diagnostic. Override measures will be installed at that time. I thank you for your assistance, but I will say again it wasn’t necessary.”
“You keep thinking that I’m helping you,” Mel replied. “I’m watching your every move on this. May come a time we have to do it without you.”
“A very wise perspective, young man,” Satithe said. “Even more appreciated. I have located our target and his entourage. Sending coordinates and sensor-feed to Roam Team Two.”
On another rooftop, Olkin and Silnee came out from inside the building with the latter smiling as she put away the device she had used to force the door to unlock and slide open.
“You’re getting better at that, Tolip,” Olkin smiled, adjusting the strap of his shoulder bag.
“Like any of us have a choice,” she responded as the very sunlight seemed to flicker. “This woman is crazy, absolutely crazy!”
“Old news,” Olkin dismissed, looking at his brace-com as he received information from the computer of the Xara-Mansura. “Got it, Satithe. We will be in position in thirty.” Olkin removed the bag and carried it to the corner of the roof. He chuckled, setting the bag down. “Damn, it is pretty bright out today.” Olkin opened the bag as Silnee put her hand to her goggle to adjust her sight parameters.
“I’ve got them,” she announced before pressing her lips together. “Looks like he’s rented a room at the Olassi-Cuisine restaurant. Damn if the man didn’t bring an army with him!”
“Hey, it’s Black Gate,” Olkin reasoned. “You want to stay merrier, you’d better bring more!”
“And the two of us are supposed to keep twenty mercs on the run?” Silnee asked.
“Trust the man,” Olkin replied. “Trust the plan.”
Silnee sighed in disgust as she adjusted her angle of view. “I’ve got Roam Team One, approaching the building. Will you look at that fool?!” Olkin adjusted the view of his goggles and chuckled, shaking his head.
With Agatha seated side-saddle in front of him and Marlene clinging to him from behind – both wearing less than appropriate riding attire – Llaz appeared to be the envy of every young man with enough credits to make his dream come true. Looking as if they were on their way to a pool party, the taxed hover-bike wove in and out of traffic to the shock, dismay, and aggravation of other conveyancers as well as a few pedestrians.
The two girls giggled as Llaz turned onto the drive that fed into the parking deck which was attached to the Euphoria Palace. A guard emerged from the small guardhouse at the side of the main entrance. He held up his hand for the hover-bike to stop, placing his other hand on his holstered blaster. Llaz came to a swerving stop and the girls giggled. Marlene patted the back of his shoulder while Agatha hopped off the bike, scratching Llaz’s chin.
“You almost lost it there, cool man!” she whispered as she nuzzled him.
“Best I could do with hair in my face,” Llaz returned and Agatha’s eyes flared as she continued her laughing.
“Thanks for the ride, handsome,” Agatha giggled. She turned to walk away and Llaz slapped her nearly-exposed bottom.
“Anytime, Red!” Llaz said before lowering his glasses to watch the two women walk away.
“Bikinis and big belts,” the guard noted. “That’s some fashion statement. This facility is for paying customers and–”
“Those that get them to pay,” Marlene retorted, reaching to her belt to produce an identity card.
“You two don’t work here,” the guard said, receiving the card.
“Oohhh, I bet you just mark every mole and dimple in the place, don’t you?” Agatha inquired, leaning against the guardhouse. With the internal alarms disabled, she was able to easily place the flash-bang device. “Our ship just put to port, Admiral. Today’s our first day.”
The guard ran the card over the reader on his arm and he looked at the monitor. Marlene’s picture came up with the name of Flora Findell. Her information included the amount to which she had been indentured to Madam Gassio.
“Go right in,” the guard ushered. He watched as the two women walked by.
“Hey, doll,” Agatha said as she sashayed. “Do you think he’s looking at our asses?”
“Probably,” Marlene replied.
“Then he doesn’t see the guy sneaking up behind him.”
The guard spun around, drawing his blaster with one hand and calling for a power shield that formed over his left forearm. Llaz was still on his bike, shrugging his shoulders. Marlene thrust the stun stick to the small of the man’s back and he winced in pain before falling unconscious. Both women moved quickly to open the satchels on their belts and unloaded their body armour, clothing, and equipment. Llaz rode by the downed man, released his catch-net and scooped the man up without stopping. He pulled out onto the street and tapped his belt buckle, activating a device on the rear of his hover-bike. Llaz whistled as he drove away from the building.
** b *** t *** o *** r **
As the candles continued to burn away at the last of the wax left to the stands, the music tickled across her mind. Silnouria Gassio was reminded of a better time, a simpler time, a time that would soon be hers again. The fingers of her personal masseuse touched gently against her lower spine and the tensions of the day continued to melt like the candles in the room.
She could almost taste it; the Governess of Black Gate they would call her, and how she would make them all bow at her feet once more. With her little gem tucked safely away, and the Governor proving to be most vulnerable where so many men were, it was only a matter of time before he would allow her to bring her ships in without tributary costs. That ‘gift’ would definitely cost him the favor of the Sapphire Barony representative. His vote would then be exercised, bringing the count to four a piece and forcing the representative of the Crystal Barony to vote. Silnouria was fairly confident she could count on that vote. It had been her influence with the Baron himself that had helped Vornessa reached the much-coveted position of representative in the first place.
“Soon,” she thought. “… so very, very soon!”
The charms of the soft sounds and heated hands were spoiled as the doors to her room were opened, without any announcement or her consent. “Madam, we have a guest who is requesting your presence!” Phalzer said in a hushed sort of scream in between his panting breaths.
“And what of it, fool?!” she barked, quite surprised that it was one of her more trusted servants who had dared to barge into this room. “What will that matter when I have you decapitated?!”
“Pardon me, milady, but you will definitely want to talk to this man,” Phalzer said as he bowed. “… he will not be paying with credits.”
“What do you mean he won’t be paying with credits?” Silnouria said as she got up from the bed. There were more muscles she had planned on having touched, but Phalzer had been with her too long; his advice had been helpful more than once, and even when she had been mad with him upon occasion, she could not remain that way, for his service had always been to sustain if not improve her standing. She grabbed her robe and started out of the room, but not before telling the masseuse he was to remain in the bed until her return.
“This way, milady,” Pha
lzer pleaded as he walked quickly into the parlor. For the time of day, it held a slightly larger than normal crowd, but such things were only good for business. Phalzer stepped into the large room and served as a wall between his Mistress and the closest patron who had cornered one of the girls as they came to an arrangement for the evening’s services.
“I know the way fool,” she snapped, pushing her way past three scantily-clad women who seemed to be just standing in the middle of the floor. She would be talking to those three in the not too distant future. “This is my place after all.”
“Perhaps the little man was just worried that I wasn’t the patient sort,” Nulaki said in between bites of a piece of fruit he had claimed. He turned to face Silnouria, and neither the Madam or the Scarab seemed pleased to see what they saw. “In point of fact, I’m not, but circumstances being what they are, I find I have little choice but to wait for the uninspired to find new perspective.”
“You brought me from my chambers for this?” Silnouria said as she gestured toward Nulaki.
“Maybe he thought you needed the exercise,” Nulaki suggested. “You look like you’re pushing two hundred there, sweetie. Abundance in everything is not all it’s cracked up to be!”
Suddenly, the whispered conversations throughout the room came to a stop. Silnouria slowly turned with fire in her eyes as she glared at Nulaki. He smiled as he chewed, stopping to cough and spit into his hand.
“Here you go, love,” he said, tossing what was in his hand at her. The woman gasped as it touched against her face and she waved frantically, trying to smack it away. The five guards in the room drew both blades and guns. “You ready to die, boy?!” Nulaki shouted.
“I am ready, Master!” Ephaliun yelled as he stood up from the sofa where he had been sitting. His coat opened to reveal a number of charges strapped to his chest.
“Holy shit!” one of the guards exclaimed. “…those are ion charges!”
Silnouria looked at Ephaliun, taking note of his pale skin and the black rings around his eyes. She doubted if the poor fool even knew who he was anymore, the way his hands shook. “You force an issue by risking your own life? That is very cliché, Mister…”
“They call me the Black Scarab,” Nulaki replied. He smiled more brightly when he saw she recognized the name. “And I am never cliché. Those charges aren’t rigged to blow, they’re rigged to glow, and that means radiation. I’m wearing a small null-field device. You, me, my parcels here, and a few others will still be alive when the lights die down. But each courtesan and patron in this building will be cooked faster than you can look and see that you just smacked away a fortune.” Nulaki nodded in the direction of the item he had tossed to the woman.
“What are you–” Silnouria looked at the floor and saw an uncut stone that somehow glowed even in the low light of this chamber. She bent down to pick it up to get a closer look and she could feel the warmth of the stone.
“It’s from Gulmar,” Nulaki advised, and knew that she knew what that meant. “And so is this,” he said, reaching back to the closest parcel and removing an oversized cloak. Pristacia had been dressed in nearly see-thru silks before being bound and gagged. “And she’s untouched!”
“Untouched,” Silnouria blurted out. “Like I’ve never seen a restored hymen before!”
“I doubt you’ve seen your feet since adolescence, beautiful,” Nulaki said calmly, earning another hateful glare from the woman. “… but you can scan her all you like.”
“If she’s from Gulmar, then she’s got people looking for her,” Silnouria started.
“Don’t make me slap you skinny, because neither one of us has the time!” Nulaki retorted sharply.
“Look–”
“No, you look!” he interrupted. “You’ve heard of me, which means you’ve heard of what happened to the Gem Guild when they tried to cross me.”
“That’s not what I heard about you,” Silnouria replied.
“Then get a better monitor!” he hissed, yanking at the other cloak. Silnouria gasped at the sight of a customer she had come to know very well. Ionsurr Tralden was a guildsman Silnouria despised for the way he always charged her excessively for her purchases. “I’m trying to offload Gulmar stones and her. Him I picked up along the way.” Nulaki looked the guildsman, shuddered at the sight of him, and replaced the cloak. “Not as lovely to look at, to be sure, but still of some value to you, yes?”
“Word has it that you were with a man and a woman,” Phalzer noted. Silnouria looked back at him and he knew to speak quickly to explain as to why he knew but had not informed her. “It happened only last night and it has yet to be confirmed!”
“At least the pissant’s informed,” Nulaki remarked. “Take a look behind the guards to your rear.”
“Don’t look,” Silnouria commanded as she quickly lifted her left hand. She turned her eyes to the closest mirrored wall.
“Bug Team, be advised,” Satithe broadcasted. “Madam Gassio’s eyes just cued an internal monitoring program. Cutter, the camera just activated is at your eye level, forty-three degrees left of center.”
A virtual monitor formed where Silnouria was looking and it displayed a view of the room. Annsura stood exactly where Nulaki had said, with wakizashi drawn and waving at the supposedly hidden camera which was being used.
Nulaki chuckled as he shook his head. “Awww, you know that game. She can’t kill them unless they move.”
“Then they won’t move,” Silnouria said loud enough for the guards to hear. “You are everything I’ve heard and more, Black Scarab. But we need to be elsewhere to discuss business. I would suggest that everyone else keep their places until our return. Phalzer, see to the needs of the Scarab’s… associates.”
“Whiskey for me,” Annsura demanded. “Nothing for him!” Phalzer acknowledged the directions he had been given as Nulaki walked out of the room directly behind Silnouria. He pulled the chain connected to the neck manacles around the necks of Pristacia and Guildsman Tralden. Nulaki tapped his wrist-com to signal that Stage One of the plan had been completed. The hammer of the gun had been pulled back, but it was not yet time to fire the shot that would begin this race!
Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.
Thomas Jefferson
(Rims Time: XII-4202.24 – Two Hours Prior to Bug Team Insertion)
Jocasta tightened her gloves and sighed as she approached the hover-bike. There was little she could say. She had set the target and the deadline. It was a functional vehicle, she just hoped there were no security measures on roller-skates that would be able to run up and catch her!
“Captain,” Dungias called to her from the rear of the estate. “I need to see you.”
“Z, what the hell are you still doing here?!” she barked. “You’re supposed to be in position!”
“The conveyance carrying Nulaki’s target has not even docked yet,” he argued. “There is time.”
“You know, for someone who comes off as being all disciplined, you sure know when to let your end sag. What if one of the crew were to see this?!”
“One of the crew is seeing this,” he countered. “Tank is with me right now!”
“Damn it all to hell, alien,” Jocasta said as she threw up her hands. “Get your ass in gear and get into position! And if anything other than ‘Aye, Captain’ comes out of your mouth, you and I are going to have words!” Jocasta turned to get on the bike but found it too low for her to grasp. She was floating above it and slowly ascending. “That’s what I get for not being more specific,” she muttered as she folded her arms and sighed.
She was lifted to where the trees were out of her reach and then she was pulled toward the back of the estate. Mel buried his face in the fold of his elbow to keep from laughing at the sight of a very disgusted woman being lowered slowly to the ground, tapping her foot. With her arms still folded, she glared at Dungias with evil intent behind her eyes… but she could not help notice the rather
sizeable object that was covered with white silk. It was the very same soft tarp material he had used when he had unveiled her fighter. The tapping stopped and she unfolded her arms.
“Speak,” she said softly, steadying herself. “Somebody please say something!”
“I thought this would be a good time to show you my latest creation,” Dungias said as he pulled back the sheet. It looked to be a mound of finely crafted silver, chrome, and glass that floated centimeters off the ground. Jocasta gasped as she stepped back, covering her mouth as her eyes gaped wide.
Mel shook his head looking at the sky-bike until he noticed something that made him frown. “Hey, Z, where are the weapons?”
“It doesn’t have any,” Jocasta whispered as she stepped forward. “…at least, not yet. The pilot has to make their approach to the vehicle as the vehicle makes its approach to the pilot. Only after that do you decide whether or not it’s even supposed to have weapons.
“But Z, I can’t take this out on a job!” Jocasta claimed. “… I haven’t field tested it… I’m not used to the controls…”
“Captain, what do you think you have been flying in the simulator?” Dungias countered. “You should know that both Satithe and I have analyzed this vehicle. She has taken one further step and tested its engines and maneuvering capabilities.” Jocasta looked up at Dungias after looking at the controls for the sky-bike. “Don’t hold back now, Captain!” he urged.
“Like I said,” Jocasta said as she threw her leg over the sky-bike. “Get your ass in gear and get in position!”
“Aye, Captain!” Dungias gave a slight bow and turned, ushering Mel to follow him. After a few strides, the Traveler looked down at the young technician. “Your pilot rating for hovercraft has improved, has it not?”
“I think I’m at Adequate Level Two,” Mel quipped. Dungias allowed his head to come forward as he drew Alpha. Dungias inserted his Osamu into a port on the young man’s chair that Mel did not know held such a function. The drives for the chair increased in power as a small stand protruded from the rear of the chair. Dungias stepped up on the back and patted Mel’s shoulder.