Archives of the Frontier Universe: An Assassin's Assignment (16 page)

No, Meirthealy sounded serious. And this unsettled Rose, for the elder was indeed powerful and capable.

“Well, I think that’s all we’re going to get,” she said to Meyer. “It looks like they’re wrapping this up. Kelrundum . . . he’s leaving.” Rose pointed her rifle through the leaves, directly at Meirthealy. The woman had taken to sitting on a bench, presumably out of mental fatigue.

“We better contact Boss R then,” advised the captain. “Would you like me to connect him to your comm.?”

“No. I think the personal touch would be more appropriate. Stand by.” Looking into the scope again, she confirmed Meirthealy had not moved. Lowering the rifle a tad, Rose pulled out her glass slate and powered it on. She activated a feature which transformed the device into a shiny mirror and looked into it.

A beautiful dark-haired woman blinked back at her. Rose scanned over her own reflection, running her fingers through her jewel-red hair in preparation. When she looked perfect as ever, she placed the call. Once more, she looked back to ensure Meirthealy did not move, and then turned her attention again to the slate. Her master appeared.

“Master, I have confirmation of Grandmaster Meirthealy’s arrival on Forcurrier,” she whispered.

“
Good,
” rumbled the voice of the hooded man. “
Did she come alone?
”

“I have no way of knowing that at the moment. There were others on her ship, but no one accompanied her out to the park. She has only just now finished a conversation with the Executive Justice. According to her, though, the
recent
assassinations
could have only been accomplished by a posteritor. Ha!” she laughed quietly. “She’s got that one right. You know, I’m almost flattered. She called me a ‘professional’ while speaking to the justice.”

“
Let’s not lose sight of your objective
,” breathed the man. “
I will accept nothing less than your absolute completion of the mission. Time is ticking away, and Command is highly displeased with the recent setbacks. This needs to end tonight
.”

“Of course, Master,” accepted Rose. “Your command?”

“
You may proceed to eliminate the target at once.
And be sure to contact me once you are finished.
I already have another assignment for you on Dailunavein, so you’ll be leaving for the system when the task there is complete.
”

She bowed, and the man nodded then disappeared.

“Um . . . very well,” she put, stowing the slate again.

“That was uncharacteristically brief,” spoke Meyer. “I couldn’t really hear anything. Did he already know what you were going to tell him?”

“I’m not sure, but I gave him the important information anyways. He must be pressed for time like he was saying
we
are. The only thing he really missed was that Meirthealy is heading to Dailunavein after the Court session tomorrow—something I can tell him later on. Or when I get there myself.” She peered back into the scope. Meirthealy was rubbing her forehead, possibly meditating. “Well, I don’t know if she’s going to stay here all night; but I’ve got to get on with the mission.”

“Alright. On your way to the Grand Hall then?”

“Affirmative. Once I obtain the code and return to you, I’ll need to be departing for Dailunavein. It’s your job to lighten activity around the spike so I can access it. After that, I’ll just walk in like a hero, hand it off to whomever, and be on my way. Everybody wins!”

After slipping out of the park and leaving Meirthealy to her cumbersome thoughts, Roszephnye returned yet again to the Court Grand Hall. The area was predictably alive with lights like the last night of her trespassing, but security was noticeably tighter. On the approach, she saw that the window to the late Forcurrian’s room was sealed off, and many of the surrounding rooms were unusually dark. The Court must have evacuated the tenants nearby in order to enhance their investigation. Rose ascended rapidly on a building facing the Grand Hall and landed on a deserted balcony. Pausing to assess the area, she reported her findings.

“It appears I caused quite a stir last night,” she commented, running her eyes over the building. From where she was perched, it was obvious she would have to tread far more carefully this time.

“Heh!” laughed Meyer sort of satirically. “What exactly did you think was going to happen? That room service would just rotate them out like laundry?”

Rose laughed quietly. “Of course not, but, you know . . . I don’t normally return to the scene of the crime. And certainly not to one as hot as this.” She scanned the Grand Hall’s expansive wall, searching for a discreet path.

“Are you really returning to the scene though? The councilor’s quarters were not near the other two . . . and the Grand Hall’s huge. It holds about as many people as a starship. Not really much of a ‘scene.’”

“Call it what you want, but they’ll surely be watching the places I need to access, now won’t they?” Not even waiting for a reply, she pointed an arm to a floor above her. “But, guess we’re about to find out.” She fired the harpoon, ascended, and then kicked off at the height of the rise, sailing straight for the Grand Hall. She soared through the breezy night air, slowly falling for the street. Nearing the intended attach point, she flipped gracefully and hooked a balcony of the Hall. She fired her second harpoon, hooking another overlook and reducing her plunge. Five seconds later, she flipped one last time, landing on a vacant rooftop. “Right!” she panted lightly. “Only a few more to go.” She hurried across the rooftop near the edge of another towering wall. “How’s the chatter looking over here?”

Meyer took a minute to reply, in which time she reached the wall and ascended a few levels. “Non-urgent,” he finally said. “Most of what we’re monitoring pertains to the levels you hit yesterday—uh, last night. From what I can tell, security is patrolling ‘those’ areas pretty leisurely. Or at least it seems they don’t sound alerted or anything.”

Rose landed on another overlook. “Good. What about near Hiellta’s room though? That’s what’s really important now.”

Again, the captain paused. “Um . . . well, it’s difficult to tell. Most of the security chatter is on those other floors. And everything else is pretty hard to differentiate. Even though you helped secure reliable connections earlier, the Court’s been changing parameters and protocols ever quarter hour. It’s kind of a game of tag right now. They partially jam our uplink, and then we reestablish it. At the best of times, we’re getting a literal barrage of audio feeds. There’s no telling where most of them are coming from.”

Rose tossed her head, a bit put out. “Alright, do I need to stop by somewhere and fix this? Just go ahead and point me in a direction. We don’t have time to—”

“No,” he interrupted. “That shouldn’t be necessary. You’re right; we don’t have that much time. Just access the floor and scope it out.”

“Copy that.” As she was near the objective anyways, Rose gladly accepted his suggestion (commanding as it sounded) and fired her harpoon skyward.

She rocketed through the air, hooking the building about a half dozen more times, before finally landing on the target floor. A wrapping walkway extended all the way around the floor, with private patios sectioned off for the rooms. There were canopies built over the patios and even doors leading to the walkway itself.
Elegant
, she thought.
Yes, she’d definitely spoil herself with such accommodations
.

“I’ve reached the level,” she whispered. “I know she’s on this wing of the Hall; which room is it?”

“Okay, eight . . . nine rooms to your left,” answered Meyer.

Without opening its unnecessary door, Rose climbed over the patio’s stone railing. “Copy that.” She started down the walkway.

“I know I say it all the time, but be careful!” advised the captain. “This woman is probably very powerful. I still don’t even feel right about letting you engage her alone.”

Lightly giggling to herself, Rose vaulted the first patio railing. “No one was stopping you from coming along,” she insisted. “Indeed, I don’t need to run every op solo.”

The man gave a self-conscious, grunt-like laugh. “Right. If I were there, we’d still be on the street, trying to find out how to get in. And even if you managed to drag me all the way up there, she’d just blast me right back down before fighting you.”

“Oh,
that’s right
,” she replied satirically, as if solving a century-long puzzle. “
That’s
why I work alone . . . Well, at least in the actual field.” She vaulted a few more railings, nearing Hiellta’s room. “Anyways, go ahead and wish me some luck I’ll not need. I’ve reached the witch’s abode.”

“Copy that. I’ll be just a whisper away.”

Rose hopped over the last railing before Hiellta’s patio. Even before she approached, it was apparent that the lights were off in the adjacent room. She scooted up closely to the wall right outside Hiellta’s patio, listening. The place was still. Taking a silent breath, she put a leg over the stone railing and hopped over. The door leading inside was glassed, but revealed nothing but darkness within. Using her extrasensory hearing, Rose scanned the room, revealing every minute detail she could. The echoed image of the stately room painted furniture, walls, counters, doors, and even rugs and solid floors. However, no person was discernible . . . and then she saw her!

A faintly discernible figure sitting in a large chair flashed in the dark. She was facing away from the window, oddly enough, but not moving or doing anything that Rose could tell. “I’ve got a visual,” she muttered as lowly as possible. “She appears to be asleep. I should be able to sneak in . . .”

“Okay . . .” Meyer replied.

Working quietly, Rose used her telekinesis to unlatch the window, while simultaneously blocking as much of the noise as possible with an inverse power. She kept her eyes glued on Hiellta, who did not move, and finally caught eye of the woman’s shimmering arkanverre sheathed at her side. The window finally popped open and then swung out at length. Stepping silently like a predator, Rose put a single heel into the room. Still, Hiellta did not move. Rose stretched and dropped all the way inside finally, pulling the window most of the way shut behind her.

She tiptoed over a few steps at a time, keeping her ears tuned on the adjacent rooms. Her eyes, however, were stuck on the back of Hiellta’s chair. Fortunately, the woman still did not move, though her hand rested eerily close to her sword (almost as if waiting for, daring even, someone to get close). Taking a sharp, silent breath, Rose extended her left harpoon and reached the councilor. She drew her arm back for the strike, pointing the shard at the woman’s heart . . . and then hesitated.

Feeling an odd sensation come over her, Rose stood out of her striking stance, still listening. No one else was around, but something was not right.
Wait a minute
. . . Grabbing the side of the chair suddenly, she threw it around. Now filled with frustration, she stared into the nonexistent eyes of a dummy.
You’ve got to be—

A thunderous explosion erupted from the dummy’s torso, striking Rose with something crippling and throwing her to the floor. She seized her lower abdomen immediately as pain surged from it. “Ahh!” she cried in agony. “Ahhhhhhh!” Still clutching the wound with one hand, she reached for the dummy with her other, ready to fire her harpoon.

“What is it?! What happened?!” demanded Captain Meyer. She hesitated in responding, still gripping the wound and trying to rise. “Byruhme, what happened?!”

“Ugh!” she grunted. “It . . . was a trap!” She finally stood from the floor, the wound bleeding through her fingers.

“What?! What do you mean a trap?!”

Rose relinquished her side, feeling the damage. “She . . .” she huffed. “She’s not here! It was just a dummy.” Examining the despicable device, she spotted the weapon. “With a gun! It shot me!” She immediately grabbed a blanket from a nearby sofa and wiped the blood. While doing so, she noticed Hiellta’s alleged arkanverre was just a common sword used as a prop.

“Shot!” repeated Meyer. “I’ll send someone for pickup immediately!”

“No!” she protested. “It’s not as bad as I thought. My shielding blocked most of it, but the shot was point-blank so it still broke the skin. The
impact
hurt more than anything.” Her heart rate began to slow finally, and she took a series of revitalizing breaths.

“Wait, are you sure?”

“Yes, it’s fine. The bleeding’s already slowing.” She knelt down and picked up the splinters of the crystal shard. “I can’t believe this,” she huffed. “Hiellta knew we were coming. Have there been any reports of the Court accessing our systems?”

“No,” replied the man. “None that have been brought to my attention. And the Court’s communication traffic hasn’t contained anything related to her or another attack. But as I said, our connection isn’t the most reliable. Something could’ve slipped by.”

Rose stood and looked around the room. It was still dark and still, with no indication of anyone else around. Moving over to a table nearby, she began searching the place for a computer or terminal. “I’ve got to find her,” she proclaimed. “If Hiellta expected an attack on herself, she MUST have the code . . . or at least a guilty conscience.”

“Hold on, you don’t think anyone heard you, do you? When I heard that gunshot, I thought some bomb went off.”

“No, I don’t think so. This unit is built very solidly, and there are more of her rooms on each side of this one. She set the trap to kill an intruder, not to alert authorities—otherwise a simple alarm would’ve went off. Plus, she can’t have any of her activities linked to the other assassinations. That would make her a suspect.” Rose left the first table and walked over to a counter. The room’s dedicated terminal was positioned at its end—not a likely source of her whereabouts, but worth checking.

“Well, I think I’d make it quick anyways,” advised Meyer. “I’m assuming you’re combing the area for a lead on her?”

Rose powered on the computer and sliced through its prompts. “I am. All that I found was the room’s dedicated terminal. It could have some information on her . . . or I guess I could just wait here for her to return . . . Probably a bad idea,” she tacked on.

“We can’t wait. I’m running a filter on communications as we speak. If anyone speaks her name or mentions her position, it’ll tag the feed. We might be able to . . .” He paused conspicuously.

Hearing his hesitation, Rose paused her search as well. “Tell me you found something.”

“
Affirmative
,” he replied, in a shocked voice. “She’s . . . It sounds like someone of the Forcurrian military is speaking with her—Yes!” he confirmed suddenly. “She’s at Kyte’s formal installation!”

“For what possible reason could she be there?” asked Rose at once. She shut down the terminal and made for the window again.

“Here, I’ll patch the feed through.” Meyer hit a few buttons, and then Hiellta’s inquisitive voice took over the comm.

“Soldier, I don’t want any excuses as to why you ‘don’t think’ I should be inspecting the scene. Colleagues of mine are dead because of a cowardly hit-man. I have reason to believe this person is linked to this base. I’ve already obtained permission from Justice Kelrundum to conduct my search.”

“Very well, Representative,” answered the soldier. “Just please be careful. The site has already been searched, and there is a fair amount of dangers in the building. Because of the firefights,” he specified.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she returned sharply.

Hearing this, Rose required no other proof. She jumped out the window, relocked it, and crossed Hiellta’s balcony. “Well, I guess that settles that,” she concluded. “She must be searching for evidence.” And then the woman’s true target was clear. “Or actually, probably the spike. I’m on my way.”

***

Having signed off with Posteritor Byruhme for the moment, Captain Meyer powered down his workstation and left his office. He was on the way back to the command center again. Apparently Colonel Lonng had made contact just a moment ago and ‘required his presence immediately.’ When Meyer asked his staff to forward the transmission to his office, he could hear the surly man going off in the background. “
No! Do not retransmit this message!
” Lonng had demanded. “
Damn it! Just get that fool in here this instant! That’s an order!
”

Why the colonel would simply not speak with him in his office confounded Meyer. It would have proven much faster to just forward the message—speed (or the lack thereof) always being the source of the man’s temper.